How to Become a Trainer: Legends
by ReptileGirl497
Summary: The Viking-Dragon War is over, but Hiccup and his friends discover there's still more adventures awaiting them.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Legend of the Boneknapper

 **I've obviously planned on doing the shorts and series. If anyone has any objections to that, please say so.**

* * *

 _Every legend has a truth buried at its core. But there are times where a legend is so wild, you find it hard to believe it's true._

 _And what you need to do when that happens is look a little deeper._

* * *

"FIRE!"

At the sound of the shout, everyone hurried out to see the blacksmith's shop on fire. Team Go-Getters were some of the first to arrive on the scene. Astrid and Hiccup mounted their dragons and went to get some water buckets, with Verne and a female Noibat following. Snivels and the others stayed on the ground.

Snivels didn't hesitate to start giving his fellow Pokémon instructions. "All Water and Ground-types use Water and Ground-type moves to extinguish the flames! Grass-types, keep bystanders away. Fire-types, start a new fire. It'll burn into the old fire, and they'll snuff each other out."

The Pokémon Go-Getters collectively nodded and went to their positions.

Snivels then turned to Stoick and Brumous. "We need everyone to evacuate their homes," the Servine said, "If the fire spreads any further, it'll ignite the whole village. Any container with water in it that can be spared needs to be used to douse the flames."

Stoick was annoyed at this. "Why should we be taking orders from you?" he asked.

Snivels glared at him. "First off," he said, "I don't give orders to humans, I make suggestions. Second, if no one else has a better idea, I would suggest you don't make the same mistake you did with the dragons' nest."

Stoick sighed. He knew as well as anyone by now that everything Snivels said was the absolute truth. He turned to the Vikings standing behind him. "I need everyone out of those buildings," he demanded, "Everyone grab what they can and evacuate their homes. We're going to need as much water as we can spare to douse these flames."

As the Pokémon, dragons, and humans all worked together to extinguish the flames, Hiccup and Toothless touched down near Stoick. Immediately, the team leader dismounted his Night Fury and ran to his father's side.

"Where are Gobber and Norward?" he asked frantically. "Are they still inside?"

"We're right here!" a voice said. Everyone turned to see Gobber grabbing a bunch of weapons and lugging them forward in a wheelbarrow, with his Probopass following. "That beast'll pay for this..." he added, and several people tilted their heads in confusion.

"Gobber, what happened?" Stoick asked him seriously.

"What's it look like? A dragon set our home on fire!" he shot back angrily. There were a loud string of gasps and the crowd began to mutter in bewilderment.

Now Gobber raised his hook to the sky and yelled to no-one in particular, "You've pushed us too far this time, you ugly bag of bones!"

Stoick let out a heavy sigh, and Hiccup turned to him in confusion. "Dad, what's he talking about? Our dragons don't do that anymore."

"Exactly," said Snivels, "Since when have these guys done anything life-threatening recently?" However, no sooner after he said that, Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare appeared behind him, and engulfed the Servine in his mouth.

Blaze's eyes instantly went wide at what had just occurred. She grabbed the dragon by the horns and started smacking the back of his head, shouting, "Stop it! Stop it! What is wrong with you?! SPIT HIM OUT!"

The dragon didn't hesitate to spit the contents of his mouth onto the ground. Snivels was completely covered in dragon saliva.

" _I'm sorry,_ " the dragon grumbled, " _But I missed supper._ "

Snivels shivered from the disgusting view of the dragon's mouth. "Now you tell me."

Stoick rolled his eyes. "He doesn't mean one of yours." Then to Gobber – "Please, Gobber, for the last time. There is no such thing as a –"

"Boneknapper?!" Gobber finished.

All of the Vikings rolled their eyes and muttered to themselves again.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa. What-knapper?" Tuffnut asked.

"The Boneknapper," Gobber answered him. "A disgusting, foul beast that wears a coat of stolen bones like a giant flying skeleton."

Fishlegs was hopping up and down with excitement. "Ooh, ooh!" he chimed in. "The Book of Dragons says that this legendary dragon will stop at nothing to find the perfect bones to build its coat of armor. It's AWESOME!"

"Yeah, and if you ask me, the Boneknapper is a very determined dragon," Snivels stated as Palus used Water Gun to hose him down. "I'm not sure that even Snotface's attempts at flirting match the reptile's determination."

Of course, Snotlout was offended. "Hey!"

Stoick laughed mockingly. "Come on," he chuckled. "It's a myth! It doesn't even exist!"

Gobber whirled on his friend and argued, "I'm telling you, he's real. We've been running from him our whole lives. He's the one that started that fire!"

At that moment, a Viking ran up, holding a stick on which hung a smoking pair of undergarments. "Stoick!" he called. "We found Gobber's underpants hanging by his stove. They must have started the fire."

The crowd burst into laughter, and Gobber turned red. "You still think it was a dragon, or just your undies?" Stoick challenged him, shaking with mirth and holding up the putrid undergarment.

"May I remind you guys that it was the ROOF that was on fire, and not the entire house?!" Snivels asked before shaking the water off of himself like a dog. But only Team Go-Getters seemed to pay attention to the Servine's comment.

"I don't think, I know!" Gobber shouted. "Somehow he found me again. This dragon is pure evil."

Stoick sighed and gave him a look of pity. "Gobber, it's late, and we're too tired for your stories. Now get some rest."

Instead of accepting Stoick's request, Gobber snatched his skivvies back and stuffed them in his wheelbarrow. "You rest. We're putting an end to this." He then limped off with his wheelbarrow without another word, heading for the docks with Norward, and gathering up his sheep, Phil.

Hiccup and the others, Team Go-Getters and Viking teens, watched him go. "We can't let him go all by himself," Hiccup muttered to his friends. He turned to them and said with determination, "Alright gang, grab your shields."

Everyone cheered, except Snotlout, who folded his arms. "There is no way I'm getting on a boat to go after a fake dragon!"

* * *

"You were saying, Snotface?" Snivels said smugly over his shoulder as they all rowed the boat through the water with all of their strength. Gobber kept encouraging them to row harder and faster, but it wasn't easy. Even with the Pokémon helping out, it was difficult.

"How fun is this, right?" Hiccup asked, trying to keep everyone's spirits up. "We've got the team back together, another adventure...this is pretty cool, huh?"

The only reply he got was from a winded Snotlout, who said, "Yep, there's nothing cooler than rowing until your hands bleed..." He went back to rowing after a breather.

"Why couldn't we have just saddled up the dragons and _flown_ there?" complained Amber, blowing on her stinging hands.

Blaze spared the Charmander and pitiful look. "Because _some_ _people_ still prefer the Viking way," she said.

"I just want you kids to know," Gobber spoke up tearfully, "That it touches me heart that you volunteered to help me slay the Boneknapper." He sniffled and added, "True Vikings, you are..."

"Call 'em what you want," Snivels muttered, "But the lovebirds always keep the title of Go-Getters."

"I heard that!" Astrid said warningly. It didn't take a genius to figure out Snivels was talking about her and Hiccup, after all.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes and asked, "Are we there yet?" She grunted out her question as she tried to move her oar through the choppy water.

"Oh, you'll know we're there when your ears explode from the piercing screams," Fishlegs said, both nervously and in excitement. "Legend says the Boneknapper's roar is so fierce, it can melt the flesh right off your bones!"

Gobber silenced him with a wave of his hook. "Not so, Fishlegs. The Boneknapper has no roar at all. That's why he's terrifying. He's a silent killer."

Ruffnut stopped rowing. "Wait," she began, "So, if we don't hear anything, we're dead?"

There was instant silence. "I don't hear anything," Tuffnut muttered.

"CAUGHT YA!"

Everyone screamed and turned to the front of the boat, where Snivels was laughing. He had snuck over toward the front end of the boat while everyone was silent, and decided to play a prank. "You guys should have seen the looks on your faces!" he said, nearly falling over from laughter. Phil rolled his eyes and bleated in annoyance.

Gobber ignored the Servine's laughter and asked, "Now, did I ever tell you how I met the dreaded Boneknapper?" He didn't bother waiting for them to answer before he began the story. "I was a young lad, about your age, and I'd just received Norward, who was but a Nosepass back then. I was on summer vacation with my family, when I heard the call of nature."

"Don't you think that's information that we could have gone our whole lives without knowing?" asked a disturbed Snivels.

Gobber just ignored him and continued. "Me and Norward saw an army of Vikings and Pokémon, frozen deep within the glacier! Clutched in the hand of one of the Vikings was a small treasure chest. I. Had. To have it."

Snivels scoffed. "A Viking just has to have everything," he uttered, mostly to himself, and with quite a lot of disgust.

Gobber continued. "I reached in, and pulled out the chest. It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw! But the frozen Viking was still alive, and started punching me in the face! And there it was. I never even heard it coming. The Boneknapper!"

Even Snivels remained silent at that point.

"The dragon crashed into the glacier, causing an avalanche of frozen Vikings!"

" _Probopass, Prob, Probopass!_ "

Snivels turned to the others and translated, "He said that they dropped the chest into the water."

Gobber nodded. "I reached into the water, only to find the frozen Viking punching me in the face again!" Norward rolled his eyes. He always knew when Gobber was exaggerating. "The Boneknapper wanted the treasure, but I wanted it more!"

Norward proceeded to tell the rest of the story. " _We ended up back in the boat safely, and it was almost like we never left._ " Snivels didn't hesitate to translate.

Everyone was speechless.

"Do you expect us to believe that a frozen Viking punched you in the face?" Snotlout chuckled.

Gobber nodded. "Yeah, twice!" He held up two fingers for emphasis.

Snotlout and the twins shook their heads.

"Hey, it could happen," Hiccup replied, defending Gobber loyally.

"What do you mean, it could happen? It did! But luckily I outsmarted the silent beast," Gobber added.

"I hate being a stickler for detail," Fishlegs said, nervously. "But Boneknappers are not silent."

Gobber sighed. "Fishlegs, I know what I didn't hear! But I could feel it. I have this sense for danger. I can smell it, I can taste the oncoming doom - "

His speech was cut short by a an immense impact that rocked the boat, throwing everyone out of their seat with startled yells and screams. Splinters of wood flew threw the air as the boat ran aground on a tall, pointed rock spire. The hull had been fatally breached. Everyone looked around frantically, finding themselves surrounded by mist and rocks.

"I'm tasting rocks," Astrid muttered.

"I know this place," Snivels said, scanning the area. "Graveyard Island. It receives its name from the many animals, including dragons, that come here to die a silent death."

True to his word, the nearby island was nearly covered in bones from the many animals that had come there to die. Many rock spires were surrounding the island.

"We're here!" Gobber said with a satisfied grin.

They wasted no time gathering what supplies they could and wading the short distance to the shore of Graveyard Island. However, it did take a while for the Fire-types to gather the courage to follow through the shallow water. Both Amber and Heat had to take the extra precautions to keep their flames above the water. They all made it on the island just in time to see the ship sink into the water.

"Great," Ruffnut complained, "Now we're stuck in the middle of nowhere. And no one even knows we're here!"

"Except the Boneknapper," Fishlegs stated, "Legend says it's roar..."

Snotlout interrupted him. "Hey, you know what legend also says? Stop talking!"

"You, legend?" Blaze snickered disbelievingly. "There are much better tales out there to tell."

Snivels turned to Amber. "Still think that Gobber can taste the oncoming doom?" he asked.

The Charmander shook her head, but didn't say anything.

"No need to panic, kids," Gobber said as he sat down and started to sharper his hook with a small rock, "I've been shipwrecked many times."

Hiccup shrugged. "Well, that's comforting," he replied sarcastically.

"Why couldn't we have brought the dragons with us?" Amber asked, her voice a little whiney.

Gobber paid her no heed and hummed to himself merrily. "You never forget your first shipwreck..." he sighed wistfully.

* * *

 **I came up with the name Graveyard Island because of the skeletons that are lying all around the island. And yes, the Dragon-type Pokémon stayed behind with the dragons. Other than that, all of the Pokémon have gone with their trainers. Review, follow, or favorite!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Perfect Bone

 **Couldn't really think of a better title for this chapter.**

* * *

"I was stranded on an island with Norward, and my broom," Gobber reminisced. Or, at least, Hiccup thought he was reminiscing. "It was a very small island, so it was no wonder the Boneknapper found us again. He never forgave us for taking that treasure."

"What makes you think that?" Snivels asked sarcastically. Hiccup gave him a curious look. There was something about the way the Servine spoke that made him think Snivels knew something about the Boneknapper that they obviously didn't.

Gobber continued, "There was another island, our only escape. But then, we were surrounded by bloodthirsty hammerhead sharks! We had only one chance, so I grabbed Norward, and ran across the shark-infested waters! I didn't think we were going to make it. But then, from the depths of the ocean, leapt forth a giant hammerhead whale!"

There were more than a few skeptical faces staring at him speechlessly.

Fishlegs, on the other hand, was pretty enthusiastic with Gobber's tale. "And the hammerhead whale ate the Boneknapper?"

Gobber chuckled and answered, "Almost, but he got away. Years later, he hunted us down again and chased us into the jungle. All I had was my trusty eggbeater. I cut through that thick brush as fast as a jungle cat. Still, the Boneknapper was right behind us! I grabbed Norward, ran up the side of a volcano, and leapt across the fiery crater! Then, deep within the burning volcano, burst forth a giant hammerhead yak!"

Norward rolled his eyes again. It was a wonder how they hadn't rolled out of their sockets already.

This time, Gobber's wile story had convinced both of the Thorston twins that he was just making things up. "Okay, wait a minute," Tuffnut said, "You're saying that a giant hammerhead yak leapt out of the fiery volcano and ate the Boneknapper?"

"Actually," Snivels said, "Yaks are vegetarians. And there is absolutely no evidence that a creature like that even exists."

Blaze nodded in agreement.

Gobber ignored them and continued. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? But the dragon got away again. I knew that boney scoundrel would keep coming after us, so I set up a bunch of traps, and we waited for the beast. When he was ready, he charged! I ran like the wind. But the traps failed! Then, captured, I did what any brave Viking would do."

Now it was Snivels turn to roll his eyes.

"The gods must of heard my prayer. It was Thor! He tossed a mighty thunderbolt! And then, from the center of the earth blasted forth...the hammerhead yak riding the hammerhead whale!"

Snivels and the other Pokémon didn't bother to listen anymore as Gobber continued to tell his impossibly tall tales. That had done it.

"The whale saluted you?" Fishlegs asked. Snivels shot him another look.

Gobber laughed. "Can you believe it? But the dragon got away _again_! He found me on Berk, and..." He was interrupted by Snotlout and the Twins' protests.

"Come on! You totally made everything up!"

"There's no 'center of the earth'."

"You don't have any proof that thing exists!"

Gobber just smiled. "Of course I have proof. I still have the treasure—this stunning belt buckle. It was in the Viking's treasure chest. It's been keeping my pants up for years!" He lifted the hem of his shirt a little so they could see the belt buckle for themselves. It was made from an unrecognizable material, and was an oddly twisted shape.

"Well, it is stunning," agreed Fishlegs.

Hiccup suddenly yelped when Astrid punched him in the shoulder. He turned to give her an appalled look, and she just glared skeptically back and gestured to Gobber. Knowing what she meant, Hiccup sighed and made his way to the blacksmith, who was sitting on a boulder.

"Listen, Gobber," he said tentatively, "Instead of chasing down an imaginary dragon, maybe we should figure out how to get home."

Gobber stood up. "Say no more, I hear you loud and clear. I've got a plan. So, who'd like to be dragon bait?" He then pointed at Fishlegs, who gasped. Everyone, except for Gobber, was staring at him with wide eyes.

* * *

In a few minutes, Fishlegs was dressed in a sort of Gobber disguise, and standing, with the blacksmith's Probopass hovering next to him, on a pile of dragon bones, over which a giant ribcage was hanging by a vine.

"Um, Gobber? Are you sure this is safe?" Fishlegs asked nervously.

Gobber squinted before replying, "Safety's overrated." He then turned to the others. "Okay, here's the plan. The Boneknapper wants me, right? He comes down that trail" - he pointed at a misty trail - "sees Fishlegs, thinks it's me, rushes Fishlegs" - said boy squeaked with fear - "causing Phil to trip that bone" - he pointed to the tripwire he had set up next to the nonchalant sheep - "dropping that ribcage, and then we rush in, and finish him off, once and for all!"

It was then that Hiccup finally lost it. "Gobber, you're taking this way too far. Get it through your head. There is no such thing as the Boneknapper!"

Of course, Gobber didn't listen. "Wormsquat! Now, get into position." He then shouted to the shivering live bait, "Way to go, Fishlegs! You're doing fine!"

Frustrated, Hiccup grumbled as he settled in to wait with the others, "Why does no one listen to me?"

"I wouldn't take it personally," said a sympathetic Snivels. "Vikings hardly ever listen to anyone besides themselves."

It wasn't long after that when the group of teenagers and Pokémon started arguing amongst themselves. Their voices began to get louder as they debated back and forth.

"No wonder the whole village thinks he's crazy," Astrid muttered.

"Everyone knows the Boneknapper is just an old wife's tale," added Ruffnut.

"And what about the hammerhead yak?" demanded Tuffnut. He shoved his sister over to give himself some room, and she shoved him back twice as hard.

The argument was getting more and more heated, with everyone trying to talk over everyone else. In fact, the group never even heard Fishlegs's calls, or the soft sound of wingbeats and objects clattering as something close in from behind.

Finally, Fishlegs screamed, "GUYS!"

Everyone responded with a unified, "WHAT?!"

Then there was the sound of rattling bones.

"It's right behind us, isn't it?" Hiccup asked.

They all turned around. Glaring down at them was one of the largest dragons they'd ever seen. Nearly twice as big as a Monstrous Nightmare, and almost completely covered from head to tail with dragon bones. It opened its mouth, and...all that came out was a pathetic squeak.

"Well, what do you know," Fishlegs muttered, "No roar."

The Boneknapper charged up, and unleashed a powerful blast of fire. Everyone scrambled away just in time to avoid the flames.

"Okay, Gobber, we believe you!" Astrid said.

Suddenly, the Boneknapper stopped and turned to look at its tail. There was Snivels, clutching two of the bones that the Boneknapper had used to make a club at the end of its tail, trying to slow it down. But the Boneknapper just lifted its tail into the air, with the Servine dangling helplessly. Snivels gulped, "This is not making much of a difference, is it?"

The Boneknapper responded by swinging its tail and shaking the Servine off. Snivels came barreling into the others, causing them to topple over like dominoes, and sending them flying into the bone pile. A minute later, the huge ribcage dropped over them.

"PHIL!"

The Boneknapper advanced, once again shooting fire at the group. Hiccup pushed himself and Astrid against one of the bones of the ribcage, and everyone else hid behind the other ribs. The Boneknapper's fire blasted through the gaps.

"Find a happy place. Find a happy place," Snotlout muttered.

"That's not helping!" Blaze screamed in response to the Jorgenson's chants.

The Boneknapper climbed on top of the ribcage, trying to find a way in.

"Hey, you grave robber!" yelled a voice.

Everyone, including the Boneknapper, turned to see Amber standing near the spot where they had been hiding just minutes ago. Amber narrowed her eyes at the large dragon and demanded boldly, "Leave my friends alone!"

For a reason unknown even to Snivels, the Boneknapper jumped down from the ribcage and advanced toward Amber slowly. Snivels peeked through the ribs. "Amber!" he shouted. The Boneknapper was now standing over the tiny Charmander, who glared at it with a look that could kill. Snivels watched as the Boneknapper prepared to fire another powerful blast.

"NO!"

The Boneknapper's powerful fire engulfed Amber, who stood still as the flames approached. Snivels watched, devastated. He was sure that not even Amber, who was a Fire-type and resistant to flames, could survive that.

But then, when the Boneknapper stopped firing, the flames surrounding Amber formed a sort of orange and red fiery ball, revealing the shadow of the Charmander. As Snivels and the rest of Team Go-Getters watched, Amber's shadow began to change shape. The ball of flames grew bigger and brighter, and everyone had to shield their eyes.

When the flames finally disappeared, Snivels was the first to look at what had taken place. He gasped at what he saw.

Where Amber had been standing, was a red, bipedal, reptilian Pokémon with sharp claws and a flaming tail.

A Charmeleon.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. Amber had evolved.

Amber the Charmeleon glared at the Boneknapper, who glared right back at her. The claws on Amber's right hand glowed a bright white, and she lunged at the dragon, scratching it near the eye with her glowing claws.

Amber had learned how to use Slash.

The Boneknapper's response to that was swinging his tail at Amber, sending her flying right through the bones of the ribcage that held her friends prisoner and into the dirt. "That went a whole lot better in my head," she groaned.

Trapped, Hiccup and the rest couldn't do anything to escape the wrathful Boneknapper. He swatted at the ribcage with his tail and buffeted them with gusts from his wings. Sooner or later, he would find a way to get them out in the open, and pick them off one by one.

But as he stared up at the furious dragon, now biting savagely at the ribs, Hiccup noticed something unusual. There was a tiny gap in the Boneknapper's skeletal armor, right in the middle of his chest area. Hiccup turned and noticed that the belt buckle Gobber was wearing was shaped exactly like the gap. It didn't take him long to figure out what was going on.

"It searches for the perfect bone to build its coat of armor," he murmured in realization. "The treasure! Gobber, take off your pants!"

Gobber looked confused. "What?"

"NO!" shrieked everyone else.

"Wait, listen to me," Hiccup hastened to explain, scrambling over. "I think Fishlegs was right. The Boneknapper is supposed to have a roar. But maybe he can't because the bone he needs is your belt buckle!"

Meanwhile, the Boneknapper succeeded in ripping away one of the ribs from their cage.

Astrid, always a quick study, ran up the blacksmith as well and agreed, "Gobber, please, you have to give it back!"

Gobber stood up and said stubbornly, "No way! It's mine!" It was then that the Boneknapper squeezed its jaws in between the ribs that guarded them, and seized Gobber's peg leg it it's jaws. Gobber muttered, "Uh-oh," before the dragon pulled him out, and shook him in all directions.

"Give him back his bone!" Hiccup shouted.

"No!" Gobber replied as the dragon continued to fling him around.

"Give him back his bone!"

"No!"

"GIVE HIM BACK HIS BONE!" All of Team Go-Getters shouted as loud as they could.

Finally, tiring of his little game, the Boneknapper tilted his head back and flung Gobber high into the air.

"No...all right."

Gobber grabbed the bone, tearing it from his belt, and threw it toward the dragon. By some lucky chance, the bone landed right where it was supposed to, in the space where it had been missing. The Boneknapper shifted, as if he were trying to get used to the feeling of the final bone that had finally fallen into its place. Gobber landed nearby in a pile of bones.

The Boneknapper reared his head back, and let out a loud screech. Everyone covered their ears at the sound of the dragon's roar.

The Boneknapper soon quieted down and leaned its head down toward Gobber. The Viking stood up and sighed. "Alright, you've got me. Make it fast." But the Boneknapper purred and nuzzled him, his way of saying thank you. It was at that moment that Gobber's pants fell down, revealing extremely filthy undergarments.

Everyone looked away with disgusted reactions. "That's gonna give me nightmares," Hiccup muttered.

When Snivels looked away, he found himself face-to-face with Amber. For a while, neither of them moved, but then Amber pointed a claw at the Servine and asked, "Did you know about that bone thing?"

"Yes," Snivels admitted, "It's just one of the many things you learn when you're traveling through the islands. I know I should have said something, but just because I prefer to tell the truth doesn't mean everyone will believe what I say."

Amber glanced down at her claws and smiled at him. "Can't argue with results," she said. She laid a hand on his shoulder. "And don't worry, I would have believed you."

"Yeah, I know," Snivels said, blushing.

Their friends overheard the exchange, but they didn't seem to mind.

"Well, at least we have a ride home," Astrid said, gesturing to the Boneknapper.

The dragon was lying on its side, with Gobber scratching it under the chin with his hook while holding up his pants with his remaining hand. "Aren't you cute?" he said to the dragon in a ridiculously high-pitched voice. "Yes, you are! Yes, you are!"

* * *

It wasn't every day you rode on the back of a rare dragon. Everyone managed to fit on the Boneknapper, who didn't seem bothered at all about having to carry so many passengers.

Snivels, who was standing on the Boneknapper's head, looked at his friends over his shoulder. "Does anyone else wanna be king of the world?"

"Keep it, Snivsie," Amber said with a smile. "It suits you."

Behind them, Snotlout bragged to Fishlegs and Ruffnut, "I never doubted him, I was always like, 'he's right.'"

Poor Tuffnut was stuck riding on the dragon's tail. "This tailbone's hurting my tailbone!"

The Boneknapper roared once again.

"He sure seems happy to have that bone back," Hiccup said. Astrid, who was sitting behind him with her arms wrapped around his torso, nodded.

"Well, legend says the Boneknapper's roar is its mating call," said Fishlegs.

"That's just a myth," Gobber said.

But then, a high-pitched, feminine roar split the air.

"I don't think so," Snivels said, grinning at the sight of four female Boneknappers following them.

Gobber chuckled, "Think Stoick will believe me now?"

"They do say seeing is believing," Snivels said. He then added quietly to himself, "But my words are the only proof I'll ever fully rely on."

* * *

 _Legends are like dragons. You always find what's real within._

 _And when that happens, you better be ready for it._

 _I know we will be._

* * *

 **What do you guys think? Review, follow, or favorite.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Gift of the Night Fury

 **Let's see what kind of holiday Team Go-Getters can have!**

* * *

 _This is Berk. Boasting the balmy, fun-in-the-sun climate that will give you frostbite on your spleen._

 _The one upside is our annual holiday. We call it Snoggletog. Why we chose such a stupid name remains a mystery._

 _But with the war long over, and dragons living among us, this year's Snoggletog promises to be one to remember._

* * *

The atmosphere was quiet, and the room was very dark. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, but the silence was suddenly interrupted by a huge crash from up on the roof. The ceiling shuddered, and Hiccup tiredly rolled over onto his back.

The next time this happened, it felt like the entire house was shaking. Snivels sat up from his corner in the room and groaned. "Make it stop, Hiccup, make it stop!"

Rolling his eyes and yawning, Hiccup sat up and groped around the edge of his bed for his helmet - it was a special time of year, and he didn't wear it often (mostly for Snivels's sake). Finding it and putting it securely on his head, the one-legged hero crawled out of bed headed for the door.

Hiccup walked outside, into the crisp, cold morning air. It helped to wake him up, so he walked down the steps and around to the back of the house. He looked up at the roof and sure enough, Toothless was looking down at him from on top.

"Good morning, Mr. Bossy," Hiccup greeted him sarcastically. The Night Fury gave his friend a series of gurgles and growls which Hiccup imitated mockingly, then questioned him, "Do you always have to wake me up so early to go flying...!" His question turned into a startled yell as he abruptly slipped on a patch of ice. Toothless jumped off of the roof just in time to catch him.

Hiccup quickly straightened himself. "Stupid leg," he muttered. Toothless looked at him hopefully. Hiccup grinned at him. "Yeah, we can go flying now."

* * *

Toothless was certainly ready and raring to go. "Come on, bud," Hiccup cried as they skimmed through and over the clouds, "Let's see what you've got today."

Hiccup clicked the fin closed, and Toothless folded up his wings and shot straight down like a black arrow. They pulled up just as they were about to hit the rough water, and shot across to the mess of rock spires surrounding Berk. Over and around them they flew, twisting and turning.

Then, Hiccup caught sight of a small rock arch rapidly coming closer. "You ready?" he asked Toothless, slowly withdrawing his foot from the stirrup. "Easy..." he murmured as Toothless struggled to maintain his flight position.

Hiccup hesitantly stood on top of the saddle, watching as the rock arch came even closer. At the last second, he jumped, completely passing over the arch and landing roughly on Toothless' back again. "Yes!" he proclaimed, slipping his foot back into the stirrup and allowing Toothless to even out in flight. "Finally!"

* * *

The entire village was out and about, with everyone chattering excitedly. Snivels and the other Pokémon heard a multitude of human, Pokémon, and dragon voices coming from all direction as they all happily worked, decorating their village for the holiday called "Snoggletog." Snivels remembered that the Peaceables celebrated that holiday, but since he had spent a majority of his life with other Pokémon, and the occasional dragon or two, he never really celebrated it before, so he knew almost nothing about it. But that didn't stop him and the others from helping out with the decorations.

Snivels turned his attention to Astrid and Blaze, who were with Stormfly. Astrid and her Blaziken partner both tossed some shields into the air, and the Deadly Nadder used her spikes to pin them to the giant wooden tree in the middle of the plaza.

There was a screech from above, and Snivels looked up to see a Noivern with a Blue Scarf tied around its neck, carrying another shield in its claws. It let go, and the shield fell into the waiting hands of a Grovyle sitting near the top of the wooden tree. A Marshtomp from below tossed up a nail, and the Grovyle caught it, hammering the shield in place with her fist.

Once their work was done, the Pokémon all gathered in the plaza, where Astrid was waiting. "Good teamwork, guys," she praised.

Fishlegs walked up from behind with his Gronckle, Meatlug, Pad, and Numeru the newly evolved Goodra. "That...was...awesome! An excellent example of teamwork. And congratulations on Wavern's evolution." He gestured to the Noivern, who seemed to be looking around for something.

Blaze smiled. "It's true that Wavern is very dependable, but she also has the tendency to be a bit fussy."

Before Fishlegs could question this, Wavern suddenly leaned down and bit his head. He screamed, "Get her off me!" He tried to pry the Noivern off of himself, but her jaws were clamped down on him tightly. It was like trying to open an oyster.

Blaze quickly handed Astrid a long, spiny, orange berry, which she then offered. "Here, eat this."

"This is no time to be eating berries!" Fishlegs screamed. Then he suddenly calmed down and grabbed the berry. "But, okay," he said before popping the berry into his mouth. No more than a few seconds later, his eyes widened intensely, and his face reddened. He pulled himself out of Wavern's powerful jaw strength and ran over to a pile of snow. "MY MOUTH IS BURNING UP!" He plunged his head in the snow, taking in a mouthful. "What kind of berry was that?!"

"It's a Spelon Berry," Astrid said, an amused smile on her face. "It's a bit hot."

Snivels chuckled, "Now that's an understatement. Spelon Berries are some of the spiciest berries there are. It's even said they have a taste that's hotter than fire!"

Astrid offered another Spelon Berry to the Noivern. "Here you go, Wavern."

The Noivern obligingly took the berry in her jaws and munched on it, not bothered at all by the extreme spiciness.

Astrid quickly provided the answer to the questioning looks she was getting from her friends. "I have to reward her with a Spelon Berry, or else she gets hyper and Bites everything in sight."

The rest of Team Go-Getters watched in both amazement and surprise as Wavern ate her snack.

Snivels noticed Stoick, Brumous, Gobber and Norward heading their way, and kept his distance. The whole ocean would have to freeze over before he even thought about trusting someone as stubborn and narrow-minded as the chief.

"Odin's beard, Gobber," Stoick said, "Vikings spending the winter holiday with dragons. What would our fathers think?" Gobber laughed in reply, "They'd think we'd lost our minds!"

Stoick chuckled, and stood in front of the tree and raised his hands for attention. "Well done, all of you!" he said loudly, "I never thought I'd live to see this day – peace on the island of Berk. This will surely be the greatest holiday we've ever seen!" Snivels and the others smiled as the Vikings and their Pokémon all cheered.

But suddenly, there was a distant wail, long and loud, that carried all across the island. The crowd instinctively craned their necks to look up at the sky for the source of the sound, and almost instantly spotted it.

An enormous flock of dragons were flying across the sky.

Suddenly, as one, all the dragons crawling around Berk raised their heads toward the immense flock. A Monstrous Nightmare climbed on top of a house and roared at the flock, which slowed down.

At that signal, every dragon gathered in the village gathered their partners and began to fly off toward the flock. "What in Thor's name?" asked Gobber. "Come back, Hookfang!" Snotlout called. "Where are you going?"

Fishlegs frantically called out for Meatlug and Numeru.

Astrid watched with her friends as the dragons all took off.

"Where's Hiccup?"

* * *

Toothless warbled happily as Hiccup steered him up into the clouds. "What do you say, bud?" Hiccup asked, patting Toothless on the side. "You want to go again?"

But the words were hardly out of his mouth when they saw what was coming up ahead.

A huge flock of dragons was heading their way. There were dragons of all kinds, flying in the same direction – even Raptor and Streak the Speed Stingers, both of which had curled up tightly as other dragons carried them through the sky. There was a pair of Boneknappers as well, and there was no doubt that it was Grave Robber and his mate, Scapula.

Hiccup and Toothless quickly tried to dodge the dragons as they flew by. One of the Salamence flew by too close and knocked off Hiccup's helmet. "Oh no, my helmet!" Hiccup cried as it dropped.

Toothless noticed the falling helmet and dove after it, but Hiccup stopped him just before they hit the water. "We'll get it later, bud. We need to get back to the village and find out what's going on." Toothless took one last look around before turning in the direction of the village.

* * *

The last of the dragons were leaving, despite what the Vikings tried to do to get them to stay. Astrid noticed Stormfly and Wavern with the Flygon that was Stormfly's friend. She was fully aware of what they wanted to do.

"No, don't leave, guys, don't go, please!"

But it was too late. All three of them took off with the rest of the dragons.

It was then that Toothless and Hiccup arrived. The black dragon landed, and Hiccup dismounted him. He noticed Astrid running to him, and rushed to meet her. "Hiccup, what's going on? Where are they going?" But before Hiccup could answer, he was surrounded by other Vikings, all asking him the same questions.

"Why did they leave?"

"What's happening?"

"What if they never come back?"

"Calm down!" Stoick's voice boomed over the commotion, and he forced his way through the crowd. "Give him a chance to speak!" He turned to Hiccup and asked gently, "Hiccup, where are all of our dragons going?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Dad, I don't know."

They all turned at the sound of Toothless's roar. A Noivern wearing a Green Scarf around its neck was hovering above him.

Toothless and Verne exchanged a few growls and squawks before the Noivern flew off to follow Wavern.

Everyone stared in wonder as the dragons left without looking back.

* * *

At sunset, there was a huge meeting in the Great Hall. Everyone was there, and the teens and their Pokémon were hanging back to watch. "Snoggletog is ruined!" someone said loudly, voice ringing over the muttering.

"It's not ruined!" Stoick yelled, answering the unknown Viking and silencing everyone else. "We're Vikings! We've been perfectly happy celebrating without dragons for generations. And there is no reason why we can't do it again. We don't know where they've gone off to, but we have to have faith that they'll be back again soon. Am I right?"

Another voice rang out. It was Gobber's. "You're right!" he said, supporting the chief as always. "We are Vikings! We're tough!" He raised his prosthetic arm, which had a set of jingle bells attached to it. What's more, he was carrying a colored lantern, and wearing a festive green shirt and a reindeer-horned helmet. The jingle bells rattled loudly, and he quickly amended, "Most of the time."

That earned him an eye roll from both Snivels and Norward.

It was then that the teens decided to leave the meeting and head home, their Pokémon partners not far behind. It was cold, and the village was empty, but there was no wind and the silence was refreshing.

"That was depressing," muttered Ruffnut.

"I know!" Astrid agreed. "I was looking forward to spending the holiday with Stormfly."

Hiccup wanted to comfort her, but his words of encouragement were cut off by a unusually cheerful, whistled tune, courtesy of Fishlegs.

"What are you so happy about?" asked Tuffnut bluntly. "Don't you miss Meatlug and Numeru?"

Fishlegs stopped whistling and stammered, "Um, uh...of course I do! I miss them so much!" He suddenly sobbed and wiped his face with his arm. He turned to notice everyone staring at him. "Well, good night!" he said, scampering off, with Pad following as best he could.

"Wait, I've got it!" Astrid crowed suddenly. "Why don't we come up with a bunch of new holiday traditions? You know, to bury the sadness!"

The idea didn't get much support until Hiccup glanced at her and said, "Actually, Astrid might be on to something."

Astrid's smile seemed to light up the night. But the moment was ruined by Tuff, who said even more bluntly, "Easy for you to say. Your dragon can't go _anywhere_ without you." There was a hint of bitterness in his voice.

Hiccup looked up toward his house. Indeed, Toothless was perched on the edge of the cliff there, staring up into the sky and fidgeting nervously. Hiccup's spirits dropped – Toothless wanted to go with the others, but he couldn't. Not without him.

"Must be nice," Ruffnut added sourly.

They slouched off dejectedly, except for Snivels, who remained loyally by his trainer's side. "I wouldn't listen to them," said the Servine. "They're just jealous."

Hiccup just stood in silence, wondering what he could do about Toothless's inability to fly alone.

* * *

Snivels was one of the first to wake up the next morning. His usual morning stroll around the village brought him to where some kids were building a snow-Gronckle. The Servine's heart sank as he watched one of youngsters hug the snow-dragon sadly.

Just then, a horrible smell caught Snivels's nose, and he turned to see Astrid, who was walking through the plaza with a jug and two cups balanced on a shield with, Blaze and the others trailing behind by about twenty feet. Snivels covered his over-sensitive nose as she came closer. Whatever that horrible stench was, it was coming from inside the jug.

"Yaknog! Get your yaknog! Come on, get a delicious, frothy cup of cheer!"

Snivels tried not to gag at the horrible stench. Astrid noticed him and offered him a cup, but he politely said no. It was then that Astrid noticed Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut with their partners. She rushed up to them. "Hey guys, try this tasty new beverage I made for the holidays!"

Tuffnut didn't take it well. "What's that smell? Is that you?" He pushed his sister away, his face screwed up in disgust.

Astrid held up the jug. "It's yaknog." She poured whatever was in the jug into one of the cups.

Tuffnut's face screwed up even more. "If I drink that, I'm gonna yak nog all over the place."

Astrid looked at him. "Would you rather taste a punch in the face?"

Snivels rolled his eyes. "I'd much rather be a skeletal decoration for Grave Robber," he muttered.

"What did you say?" Astrid asked him.

"You don't want to know," Snivels replied, trying to be as honest as he could.

Snotlout approached and took one of the cups, drinking whatever it was that was actually thought to be a beverage. Snivels and Blaze both exchanged disgusted looks. Snotlout hesitated before swallowing. "You can definitely taste the yak," he said.

It was then that Fishlegs came running over, carrying his Lombre under one arm. "Yum! What is that?" he asked.

Astrid held out the shield to him. "You want to try some? It's my new traditional drink!"

But Fishlegs noticed the others' looks of disgust, and said quickly, "Oh, I seemed to have suddenly, and inexplicably changed my mind!"

Astrid shrugged. "Well, you don't know what you're missing. I bet Hiccup will love this." She then turned and walked in the direction of the forge.

Snivels and Blaze watched her go. "I'll give you ten gold coins if you dump it all in the ocean and don't look back," said the Servine.

"Do I wish I could," Blaze grumbled in disgust. There was no way she was going to go anywhere near whatever was in that jug.

The last thing any of Team Go-Getters saw or heard of the other teens and their partners that morning was Ruffnut saying to Snotlout, "Are you crying?"

* * *

Hiccup had been in the forge since last night, and oddly enough, he didn't feel the least bit tired. He was proud of what he had made, which in his opinion was one of his best projects yet. He heard Astrid call his name from outside. "I'm over here, Astrid," he said as he made his way to the door.

Astrid was carrying the shield that the jug and cups of yaknog were balanced on. She offered him one of the cups. "Here. Happy holidays, from me to you."

Hiccup smiled at her. "Thank you, my lady." He took one of the cups and was about to drink...

Luckily, he stopped when a voice from outside said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Both Hiccup and Astrid turned to see Snivels standing at least ten feet away from the so-called beverage. "As much as I hate to admit it, that drink isn't exactly edible," he said honestly.

Much to his relief, Astrid smiled at him. "It's okay," she said, "I wasn't really feeling very confident when I made this." She took the cup from Hiccup and set the shield down on the table. It was then that she noticed Hiccup's project on the table in front of them. "What are you doing?" she asked.

After making sure that Snivels had left (so they could have some privacy), Hiccup showed her his invention. "You're going to think I'm crazy, but I couldn't stop thinking about what Tuffnut said last night. Toothless can't come and go like the other dragons, and that's not fair. I was up all night, and I think I found a way to fix that."

He then showed her how his invention—a new tail fin for Toothless—worked. He pulled on a small lever, and the fin opened up, thanks to the complex structure.

Astrid was amazed. "No way! You built him a new tail?! So he's going to be able to fly without you! What a great gift." She paused before asking him, "What if he never comes back?"

Hiccup didn't think about that once. He wasn't sure what would happen.

Astrid shrugged. "What am I saying? Of course he will!"

Hiccup gave her a small smile. "I hope so," he said.

Astrid gave him another sorrowful look. She shifted her gaze to her yaknog, and remembered what Snivels had said. She'd have to get rid of it, but for a good reason. She shrugged again. "Well, I'm going to go spread some holiday cheer. Or attempt to, anyway."

Hiccup turned to look at her just in time to see her kiss him on the cheek before grabbing the shield and running off. Just before she left the forge, she called back to him, "You're amazing!"

Hiccup smiled as he watched her leave. "You're amazing, too," he said, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. He turned back to his invention, and then he carried it out of the forge, heading for his house.

* * *

As Hiccup neared his house, he saw Toothless jumping up and down on the roof. Obviously the dragon thought that his best friend was inside, sleeping. How the Pokémon were able to sleep through all that remained a mystery.

Hiccup called up to him. "Toothless, come down here, bud. I've got something for you." Toothless jumped down from the house and landed in front of Hiccup. He sniffed the tail fin that he was holding. Hiccup then moved behind Toothless to put the tail fin on, but Toothless tried to follow him. Hiccup chuckled. "Would you just settle down? Toothless, let me get this on you!" He got Toothless to keep still, and he put on the prosthetic. "You're gonna love his," he muttered as he put it on.

As soon as the prosthetic was secured, Toothless lifted his tail to look at it. Uncomfortable with how it felt, he shook his tail violently, trying to get the prosthetic off. Hiccup tried to stop him. Toothless then fanned out his real tail fin, and the prosthetic mimicked it. Toothless's eyes widened as he tested the prosthetic, quickly getting used to how it felt. He turned to look at Hiccup, who was smiling. Toothless's pupils slitted as he stared at his friend. Hiccup cautiously took a step forward. "Toothless..."

But then, the black dragon sprang into the air and flew off, roaring at the top of his lungs. Hiccup stood alone as he sadly watched his friend leave.

* * *

 **The scarves around Verne and Wavern's necks are supposed to help tell the two of them apart.**

 **Review, follow, or favorite, it'll make me happy!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Holiday to Remember

 **Some important revelations here, and a few that are not so important.**

* * *

Three days later, none of the dragons had returned. And even more disappointing, no one still had an idea about where they went. Not even Snivels, who spent most, of not all, of his free time studying dragons and adding new information to an updated version of the Dragon Manuel that Team Go-Getters had aptly named the Book of Dragons.

Thanks to Toothless, Hiccup had been waking up earlier than usual, even when the dragon was not there. Hiccup stared up at the rafters. Usually at that time in the morning, Toothless would pound on the roof and knock them down. But not this time, the house was quiet and still.

Sighing, Hiccup rolled to the side, listening for any signs that his friend had returned. The roof seemed to shake a little, and dust fell from the rafters. Hiccup sat up and listened harder.

 _Is that...?_

The next time it happened, there was no mistaking it.

"Toothless!"

Hiccup nearly threw himself out of bed and ran outside, the cold air not bothering him as he rounded the corner of the house. However, he slipped on the ice again, and this time, he hit the ground hard. He looked up and saw not Toothless, but Stoick up on the roof, hammering Snoggletog decorations.

Stoick looked down and noticed Hiccup. "Morning, son!"

Hiccup just laid there in the snow and ice for a few seconds before he started to get up. "Hey, Dad."

Stoick started to climb down the ladder he had used to get on the roof. Brumous tried to hold the ladder steady as his master climbed down. "Glad you're up. We were looking for your helmet."

Hiccup froze for a brief second (no pun intended). "My helmet?" he repeated nervously.

"Odin needs a place to put your goodies!" said a cheerful Stoick.

Hiccup sighed. With the dragons leaving, and not knowing where they were heading off to, he had completely forgotten that he had lost his helmet. "Yeah, I'll get on that. Great." He turned and started to walk off, when his path was blocked by the chief's Beartic. Stoick then approached him. "Alright, what's on your mind? Out with it."

Hiccup sighed again. "Well, it's been three days, Dad, I thought that Toothless would be back by now."

"I'm sure he's with the other dragons," Stoick said. Brumous nodded in agreement.

"Yeah?" Hiccup questioned. "I wish I could be that sure."

Letting out a heavy breath, Stoick went on a little more sadly, "Look, I know what it's like to miss someone you love this time of year. But what do we do when they're not here for the holiday?" He put a reassuring hand on Hiccup's shoulder before answering his own question. "We celebrate them. And I'm sure that's what Toothless would want you to do. Am I right?"

Hiccup thought about it for a minute before saying, "You're right."

Stoick nodded, and clapped his son on the back, causing him to stumble. "Good. Now go get that helmet. We've had enough disappointment around here." He and Brumous walked off, neither of them noticing Hiccup's discouraged expression.

* * *

Hiccup soon left to go and look for his helmet.

And he was planning on doing it in a rowboat.

As much as he would have preferred taking a Water-type Pokémon with him, he was pretty sure that if he asked to borrow Palus it would raise unwanted questions. He was making his way to the docks when he ran into Astrid. Or, more accurately, they ran into each other, causing Hiccup to drop the oars he was carrying.

Stunned, they both stared at one another before Hiccup leaned down to pick up the oars. Astrid did the same. "I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't see you coming."

Hiccup shrugged it off. "It's okay, really." They both reached for the same oar, and their hands overlapped each other. They stared at their overlapped hands before looking up at each other. Embarrassed, they drew back a little. Hiccup waited a minute to recover from the surprise before he grabbed the oar.

Astrid sighed. "I heard about what happened to your helmet," she said.

Surprised, Hiccup asked her, "How did you hear about it?" he asked her. He stood up, and Astrid followed.

"Snivels told me," was her reply. "He said that he heard from Toothless what had happened. You know, before he left." Then, after a moment of awkward silence she asked, "How are you going to get it back?"

Hiccup sighed. "Well, first I have to find it," he said, "And I'll admit, it's not going to be easy."

Astrid folded her arms across her chest. "Obviously, since you're planning on getting in a rowboat without any kind of Water-type Pokémon," she said.

Hiccup tried and failed to hold back another sigh. "Thank you for summing that up," he said, sarcastically.

Astrid gave him a serious look. "If you aren't back by tonight, or if you die out there, I'm going to kill you," she said.

Surprisingly unfazed, Hiccup gave her a small smile. "Wouldn't expect anything else of you," he said. He then grabbed her by the shoulder, pulled her in, and kissed her on the cheek.

Astrid's eyes widened, he had never done that before.

Feeling satisfied, Hiccup walked off, heading for the docks. Astrid turned and watched him go. She reached up and rubbed her cheek in the exact spot where he had kissed her, a ghost of a smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

* * *

Hiccup made it to the docks, thinking about what he had done with Astrid. It was true, he really loved her, but he hadn't ever thought about making a move in quite a while. His thoughts drifted back to finding his helmet as he went to find a small rowboat. He had just entered the docks when he bumped into Fishlegs, who was carrying a basket filled to the brim with fish.

"Fishlegs, you hungry?" he remarked with a laugh. "There's enough fish there to feed a dragon."

Fishlegs laughed nervously. "A dragon, that's..." He cut off his own sentence and walked off heading for a nearby barn.

Now Hiccup was starting to grow a little suspicious. He followed Fishlegs as he entered the barn, closing the door behind him. Hiccup watched from the side as Fishlegs came out a minute later, minus the basket of fish. He then ran off, a grin on his face.

After Fishlegs left, Hiccup left his hiding place and leaned the oars against the side of the barn. He went to the door and opened it. The next thing he knew, a Gronckle with a Goodra on its back was flying straight at him.

The Gronckle slammed into Hiccup, carrying him into the sky with it. Hiccup held on tightly to the Gronckle's face and suddenly recognized the dragon. "Meatlug?!" The dragon looked at him for a brief second before increasing speed.

They passed through the village, nearly bumping into Astrid. Her eyes widened when she realized who was on the Gronckle. "Hiccup? Where are you going?!" she asked.

"I have no idea!" Hiccup yelled in response as he and the dragons left the village entirely.

Astrid stared after them before something else caught her attention. "Meatlug! Numeru! What about presents?!" Fishlegs was up by the barn with a bewildered Pad.

* * *

Minutes later, the remaining Go-Getters, and the other teens and Pokémon were all gathered in the barn where Fishlegs had been secretly keeping Meatlug and Numeru. Fishlegs was really upset. "I can't believe them," he muttered.

Astrid looked at him with a mix of anger and disbelief. "You can't believe them?! You kidnapped your dragons!"

"That makes it sound so mean," Fishlegs whimpered.

As they argued, Sarin and Ricin noticed something hidden in a bed of straw. They began to dig around, trying to get to it.

Astrid continued to yell at Fishlegs. "They flew away the second they were unleashed!"

"I'm seventy-two percent sure that they wanted to stay," Fishlegs protested.

Snivels let out an unamused laugh. "And what about the remaining twenty-eight percent?"

" _Nido!_ "

Everyone turned to see the twins' Nidorino and Nidorina at the straw bed. They had uncovered multiple oval-shaped objects. Most of them were blue, and had bumpy surfaces, while some were a mix of pink and purple, and appeared to be covered in a thin layer of slime. "Whoa, Meatlug barfed up a pile of rocks," Fishlegs said.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "You're such an idiot," she said, "Those aren't rocks. Your dragons laid eggs."

Astrid picked up one of the Gronckle eggs and examined it. "Wait," she said, "I bet that's why the dragons left. To lay their eggs!"

"But, boy dragons don't lay eggs," Fishlegs said in confusion.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes again. "Uh, yeah your 'boy dragons' are girl dragons."

Fishlegs's eyes widened. "Okay, that actually explains a few things," he said.

Now it was Snivels's turn to roll his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" he asked.

Astrid suddenly jumped up, a big smile on her face. "Hey, everyone's missing their dragons, right?" She ran towards a nearby shelf.

"Ugh, here it comes," Snotlout grumbled.

Blaze elbowed him in the ribs in response, prompting a pained grunt from the Jorgenson.

Astrid reached into a box on the shelf and pulled out a red ribbon. She wrapped it around the egg she was holding. "I've got an idea," she said, "It'll be another new Snoggletog tradition!"

Minutes later, Astrid and the other teens started putting the Gronckle eggs in the other Vikings' houses. "Oh, this is gonna be so good!" Astrid exclaimed.

* * *

Blaze and the other Pokémon Go-Getters weren't participating in the egg-giving. Snivels had told them to come to the arena where the Vikings used to kill dragons. They arrived to see the doors wide open, and they heard something from inside.

"Now, be a good little egg and stay in the nest, all snug and warm, with your brothers and sisters."

They all entered to see Snivels tucking Numeru's eggs into a nest made of straw and blankets.

Blaze stared at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "Snivels?"

The Servine let out a loud, startled gasp as he turned around. He relaxed when he saw who it was. "Blaze, you scared the bejabbers out of me." He then turned back to the nest. "But, I did ask you guys to come here. I guess I just didn't expect you all here so soon." He covered the eggs with an old blanket and before climbing into the nest.

"What are you doing?" asked Amber.

Snivels sat down on the eggs and coiled his tail around them. "I'm keeping the eggs warm," he said matter-of-factly.

Blaze looked at Snivels like he had grown another head. "You're kidding, right?"

"Trust me, my friend," Snivels said with an undeterred smile. "Nothing says 'mother's love' like a Servine sitting on top of Goomy eggs!"

* * *

After Hiccup had gotten over his shock at being carried away on Gronckle-back to Arceus knows where (honestly, it had taken a while for it to wear off), he had managed to climb up off the dragon's head and onto her back in a more comfortable riding position. Meatlug and her Goodra colleague were so focused on their goal that they barely even took notice.

"Guys, where are you taking me?" Hiccup asked again, having lost track of how many times he'd repeated that phrase in the last hour. But the dragon paid no attention to him.

They flew through the perpetually-mist-wreathed waters, the foggy maze of rock spires that guarded the way to wherever the Gronckle and Goodra were going. Although clumsy in the air, Meatlug dodged all of the crags that jutted up from the sea and mist almost as soon as they came across them. More than a few close calls had gone by (including one with a wrecked Viking ship) when Meatlug finally powered both her and Numeru's heavy bulk straight up and wound up above the clouds.

The sun was shining brightly at the altitude the two dragons and their unwilling companion flew. About a half hour when by without anything notable happening, giving Hiccup time to admire how clear the skies were up there as opposed to down below. Then, all of a sudden, the clouds beneath them vanished, and Hiccup found himself staring down at the textbook definition of paradise.

In the middle of the big blue vastness that was the ocean sat a ring-shaped island, consisting of beaches white and cliffs of brown and grey, all surrounding a sea-green lake. What was truly astonishing, though, was the sheer number of dragons and Dragon-type Pokémon cavorting about through the skies and splashing in the lake and romping across the sands. The air was filled with the growls of Gronckles, the shrieks of Deadly Nadders, and the roars of Monstrous Nightmares.

Meatlug landed quite awkwardly on the nearest cliff, and Hiccup wasted not time getting off her back. Meatlug and Numeru wandered off, but Hiccup stayed where he was and looked around.

Unimaginable numbers of species of dragons and Pokémon alike were all mingling together, grouped in pairs of the same kind. Each pair stuck close to their own bowl-like structure made up of natural rock and mud that could be found around the island. Inside each nest, guarded vigilantly by their parents, was a cluster of energetic youngsters.

"You guys come here to have babies," Hiccup breathed, amazed.

The dragons of Berk had not left them for good, after all. They had only left in order to safely raise their young. Which made sense, given that they had been at war with the Vikings for three hundred years, so Hiccup supposed that it had become instinct for them to migrate to this place, which was miles away from any inhabited island, so they could have families in peace.

Head constantly turning, never knowing where to look next and discovering something new every time he did, Hiccup suddenly noticed a Gronckle lumbering around a nearby tide pool. There were many of these deep water pockets near the lake, but this one was unusually far away. The mother dragon was nudging her rock-like eggs toward the water. Intrigued by this behavior, Hiccup made his way down the cliff, almost running into a playful pair of dragonets, and approached the dragon.

By now, the Gronckle had rolled her eggs into the tide pool. Curious instead of worried, Hiccup walked to the edge and peered inside, noticing with some surprise that he couldn't see the bottom - it was deeper than he thought.

There was a muffled *boom* and a spot of dull orange light that came from the very bottom of the pool. A rush of bubbles broke the surface, and a trio of baby Gronckles followed. Using their claws to scramble over the lip of rock that edged the water pocket, the dragonets immediately ran to greet their mother, who nuzzled them affectionately.

As he got up, Hiccup noticed another Gronckle egg nearby that was wobbling. "Hey, look over here," he said, "You missed one." He started to approach as the egg cracked, and then it exploded in his face. The force of the blast blew Hiccup backwards onto a small cliff. He sat up and watched as a baby Gronckle unfurled itself and yawned as though nothing had happened.

"So fire-breathing dragons come into the world with a bang," Hiccup noted. He watched a lone Speed Stinger egg, which belonged to none other than Raptor and Streak, hatch quite normally, no flames involved. Breathing a sigh of relief, the young trainer added, "Man, it's a good thing those don't hatch on Berk."

* * *

Later, back on Berk, the warmth of the blanket, as well as Snivels's own body heat, had caused Numeru's eggs to hatch into at least a dozen little Goomy. Each Goomy was slimy beyond compare, and they were already testing their gooey abilities. Snivels did his best to try and keep track of all of them.

Elsewhere, Astrid and the other teens had finished with Meatlug's eggs. Little did they know, the eggs were all starting to crack. "Wasn't this a great idea?" Astrid asked in excitement. "Uh-huh," Fishlegs said, just as excited, "Everyone's gonna be so surprised!" Just then, there was an explosion from inside one of the houses. Something came flying out of the house and hit Fishlegs in the head, knocking him down. "Surprise!" Snotlout jeered. The same thing that had knocked Fishlegs out then fell on top of him. It was a baby Gronckle. And an adorable one, too.

Astrid's eyes widened in horror. "The eggs explode?"

Then came the inevitable.

Houses started exploding from the inside, one by one, all around the village, going down in individual conflagrations of flame and eggshell. Vikings ran in terror, and the smoking debris - some of it still on fire! - whistled loudly as it soared everywhere and caused further damage.

"The eggs explode!" repeated Astrid, voice comparable to a dragon's shriek.

Flames were spreading everywhere. The fiery debris was flying unpredictably in all directions, catching other, undamaged, things on fire. A good number of pieces hit the Snoggletog tree, setting it alight as well.

"Whoa..." murmured Tuffnut, marveling at the destruction.

"Awesome!" agreed Ruffnut.

"This is your best idea yet," Snotlout grinned.

Astrid was simply too shocked and ashamed of herself to even consider being mad at the Jorgenson's snide remark. This was all her fault. She was the one responsible for destroying so much of the village at a time that was supposed to be the merriest. Though to be fair, there was no way she could have known that fire-breathing dragon eggs were so ridiculously combustible.

It still didn't make her feel completely better. Quite the contrary - it made her feel that much worse. Why hadn't she been more cautious?

It wasn't long before all the commotion attracted Snivels and the others from the arena, their skin slicked with slime from the dozen or so Goomy they were carrying, which, of course, had hatched from the eggs left by Meatlug's colleague. They didn't get the chance to ask what was going on before a nearby pillar, weakened by the flames, started to tip over, heading straight for the Pokémon.

Before it could crush them, though, a Stone Edge attack seemed to come out of nowhere and hit the pillar, causing it to tip the other way. The present members of Team Go-Getters all turned to see a Hawlucha on top of one of the houses, looking down at them. "No need to thank me," he said, "It's just what I do."

"Who are you?" Snivels asked.

The Hawlucha looked at him. "Call me Kickin' Hawk," he said. "And keep this in mind, I'm closer than you may think." With that, he left.

Gradually, the explosions died down and the destruction stopped. No one was seriously hurt, but Stoick was extremely angry at the mess. "What in Thor's name is going on here?!"

Everyone present turned to look at Astrid for the answer, her friends included.

"The eggs explode," was all she could say.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hiccup was still on the island where the dragons were breeding. Many of the dragons had already found their mates, and had babies. But there was one dragon that didn't seem to be there.

Hiccup walked around the island aimlessly, calling for Toothless. But the only responses he got were from the other dragons there.

Depressed, he climbed over a small ridge and found himself looking at a small plateau. There was a Monstrous Nightmare, a Salamence, a Deadly Nadder, a Flygon, a Hideous Zippleback, a Zweilous, a group of Boneknappers, and a Noivern; and they all had their own children. The Salamence suddenly lifted its head and noticed Hiccup looking at them. He nudged the Nightmare, who woke with a start and turned to look at Hiccup as well. It was then that Hiccup recognized the dragons.

"Hookfang!"

Hiccup rushed over to the dragons, petting the Nightmare's snout. The dragon growled gently. Hiccup turned his attention to the Nadder, who was now wide awake.

"Stormfly."

The Nadder crooned as Hiccup walked up to her and pet her. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you guys!" Hiccup said. Stormfly crooned gently. Hiccup then looked at the baby Nadders, Trapinch, and Noibat. "And you have babies?!"

The baby dragons and Pokémon approached him eagerly, begging to be pet and played with. Hiccup smiled as he pet them, one by one. The three baby Noibat, eager to be petted, started shoving each other in an attempt to get Hiccup's attention. As he reached out to pet them, he noticed that one of the Noibat was a light blue instead of the usual purple.

He heard a noise above him, and looked up to see Wavern looking down at him. "Where's Verne?" he asked. Wavern's expression changed to a look of worry

Hiccup shrugged and turned his attention back to the babies. "Who knew you all left to celebrate your own sort of holiday?" He thought for a second before adding, "I should get back to my holiday."

Wavern crooned softly, and then lowered to the ground. Hiccup noticed her. "So, Wavern, can you give me a ride back home?" The Noivern responded by picking him up by the back of his shirt and placing him on her back. With one mighty flap of her wings, she took to the sky, with Hiccup on her back.

Hiccup looked at the other dragons. "I'll see you all back on Berk when you're good and ready, okay gang?" But even as he said this, Stormfly and Flygon began to fly up to them.

Hiccup tried to stop them, but more and more dragons took flight, some of them carrying Raptor, Streak and their newly-hatched dragonet. "I think I just started the return migration," he said to himself.

The baby dragons tried to follow their parents as they took to the skies. They all ran to the edge of one of the cliffs. Out of the many that ran there, only three of them tried to lift off, flapping their wings as hard as they could. Just when they seemed to be getting the hang of it, a strong gust of wing blew them back onto the cliff.

Hiccup sighed, "This is never gonna work."

The baby dragons called out to their parents, desperately wanting to follow them.

Hiccup thought for a minute before steering Wavern back the way he had come there. "Hang on," he said. "I've got just the thing."

* * *

Meanwhile, back on Berk, the teens and their Pokémon were cleaning up the mess they had made. Sadly, the repairs had only just gotten started, and there was still a lot of work to do. Those hatching Gronckles had done quite a number on the place.

While the teens were all working, the Gronckle dragonets and Goomy were all relaxing near one of the few houses that had taken very little damage. It wasn't hard for even Snivels to admit he was slightly jealous of them.

"Gobber, this is a disaster," Stoick said as he, Brumous, Gobber and Norward passed through one of the houses that were being repaired.

Gobber shrugged. "Oh, it's not so bad," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

Stoick grunted. "Not that bad? The village is destroyed, the dragons have gone and left us. Let's face it, this holiday is a complete...what are these people looking at?" He pushed through the crowd that had gathered in the plaza, trying to get a better look. They were able to make out the shadow of what appeared to be something with multiple wings and tentacles, but as the figure came closer, they realized what it was.

"It's Hiccup!" Stoick exclaimed.

Astrid looked up at the figure and noticed her friend riding on a Noivern with a blue scarf around its neck. Wavern. And along with them were the rest of the dragons, all holding a rope in their talons. The ropes were attached to a huge Viking vessel that had been broken in half. Astrid's heart swelled with both relief and joy. "And our dragons!"

The dragons lowered the broken vessel to the ground. The ship scraped against the ice and snow-covered ground, passing by a couple of careless sheep. Just before the ship could reach the crowd of Vikings that had gathered, it stopped and rested on the ground. The dragons all dropped the ropes and lifted higher into the air.

At first, no one moved, but then dragonets and baby Pokémon started to crawl out of the ship. The adult dragons then landed, making their way to their friends. Snotlout rushed out of the crowd to welcome Hookfang and his Salamence colleague.

Meatlug and Numeru hovered above the village until they spotted their babies, calling for their mothers. Meatlug landed near her babies, and Numeru dismounted her dragon friend to embrace her babies. On her babies' request, Meatlug regurgitated a bunch of fish for them to eat. Just then, Fishlegs came running out of nowhere with his Lombre tucked under his arm. "Meatlug!" Fishlegs dropped Pad on the ground and tackled Meatlug gleefully.

Snivels was suddenly swarmed by a trio of Noibat, who started nibbling on whatever parts of him they could reach. Only the shriek of their mother made them stop, their ears perked up at attention as they obediently flew over to Wavern.

Hiccup dismounted the mother Noivern, hoping to sneak away before she tried to use Bite on him, as he lacked the Spelon Berry she oh so loved to be rewarded with after she'd done her job. As it so happened, luck was with him in that moment, as Blaze suddenly ran in with the spicy fruit clutched tightly in the palm of her hand. Wavern happily scarfed down the berry, too content to notice the Blaziken hugging her around the neck.

Not too far away, Astrid shared a tearful reunion with Stormfly and the Flygon, only to start swooning over the six or so Deadly Nadder dragonets and Trapinch that swarmed her like she was their own mother.

Stoick approached Hiccup from behind, and took his son in a hug, squeezing him tightly. "Well done, son!"

Hiccup answered while trying to breathe, "Thanks, Dad." Much to his relief, Stoick let go of him, which gave him a chance to get his breath back.

Stoick turned to the rest of the village. "Everyone! Grab your dragons! To the Great Hall! We finally have something to celebrate!"

* * *

Minutes later, everyone was in the Great Hall, dragon, human, and Pokémon. The floor was nearly infested with babies, but no one seemed to mind. Especially Hiccup, who seemed to be pleased with himself as he walked around the Great Hall, enjoying the celebration. He passed by one of the tables, where Fishlegs and Pad were sitting down at, playing with the baby Gronckles and Goomy. "This is the best holiday ever!" Fishlegs exclaimed, hugging two of Meatlug's babies.

Hiccup looked at them one last time before heading toward one of the pillars. Looking around, he noticed Snivels and the other Pokémon Go-Getters taking turns petting and playing with the three baby Noibat that were Verne and Wavern's adorable children. The sight of the Noibat reminded Hiccup of Verne. If he hadn't been on the island with Wavern, then where had he gone off to?

Thinking about the Noivern made him start thinking about his Night Fury companion, and how he'd wanted to join the other dragons so badly. He tried not to think about it as he watched the others pet and play with the dragons. He didn't notice Astrid approaching him, until he heard her say his name.

"I know this must be really hard for you," she empathized, "Seeing everyone with their dragons." Seeing that this only made Hiccup even more upset, Astrid took his hand in her own. "But you really did a wonderful thing," she said meaningfully. "Thank you."

She leaned in to give him a brief kiss, to which he replied in kind, before drawing him into a tight, heartfelt hug. Hiccup only returned it halfheartedly.

"Astrid, where did Toothless go?" he asked helplessly.

Astrid shook her head. "I don't know," she said. As she said this, the doors to the Great Hall opened, and a black, scaly head peeked in.

Toothless.

Astrid noticed the Night Fury enter slowly, his face lighting up when he saw the two of them. Grinning mischievously, Astrid pulled out of the embrace. "Wow," she said, teasingly, "Wouldn't want to be you right now! I mean, you brought back everyone's dragon except yours."

Hiccup frowned at the sudden change in Astrid's approach. "Yeah, you know this is not helping, at all." Grinning uncontrollably, Astrid forcefully turned him around. Hiccup's eyes fell on the pitch-black dragon bounding over to meet him, and when they did, they widened.

"Toothless!"

The Night Fury stopped bounding and sat down as Hiccup ran to him. Hiccup stopped briefly, an arms length away from Toothless. Then, he hugged Toothless around the neck.

All eyes were on Hiccup and Toothless as they watched the reunion. After about a minute, Hiccup pulled away and pretended to scold Toothless. "Bad dragon! Very bad dragon!" As much as he tried to sound mad, he couldn't stop himself from smiling. "You scared me to death! Don't ever stay away that long again, and what is in your mouth?" Sure enough, there was something poking out of the corner of Toothless's mouth, but before Hiccup could figure out what it was, Toothless placed whatever was in his mouth on Hiccup's head, causing his friends to groan in disgust.

As soon as the object was secure, Toothless lifted his head to reveal Hiccup's helmet, covered in dragon saliva. Hiccup wiped a majority of the saliva covering the hard, metallic headgear. "Yeah, you found my helmet." As he wiped off the rest of the mess, he realized what had taken place. "Hey, you found my helmet!" Toothless nuzzled his friend, who pet him in return. "That's where you've been?" Hiccup asked. Toothless responded by nudging him gently. Hiccup looked the dragon in the eye. "Thank you," he said, "You are amazing." With that, he hugged Toothless once again.

Everyone cheered at the sight of the two friends reunited. But Snivels's attention had also been caught by something else. One of the pillars had been decorated with a small green plant that had red berries growing on it.

The same pillar where Astrid and Hiccup had kissed.

Snivels smiled. _Maybe I can make a tradition out of that plant,_ he thought to himself. He then noticed something that almost no one else had.

"Wait a minute, where's Verne?"

* * *

Unknown to any of his friends back home, Verne was flying over a vast, open sea. The Green Scarf around his neck blew in the wind as he flew on, wandering aimlessly through the chilly air.

He had been to the island where the dragons breed regularly, but he had left once Wavern had laid her eggs. He wanted to make sure that she and their children would be safe. But he had a promise to keep.

Before he had left for the breeding place, which the dragons called New Birth Island, he had made a promise to himself. A promise he made when he noticed Toothless being left behind. And he was doing what he could to keep that promise. He continued to fly over the ocean, the moon and the stars being his only light source. He didn't bother to stop and rest too frequently, as he had only one goal in mind.

To find more Night Furies.

* * *

The next morning, Hiccup was awakened by the sound of Toothless pounding on the roof again. But this time, he was happy to hear it. He opened his eyes and looked around the room before getting out of bed, without taking his helmet this time, and heading outside.

Fresh white snow covered the village, and for a brief moment, everything was silent. But then, Toothless roared impatiently. Hiccup smiled. "I'm coming, Toothless!"

He made his way around the corner of his house, without slipping on the ice this time, and noticed that Toothless had gotten out the saddle and riding gear that he used before the new tail fin. "Toothless, what did you pull this out for?" Hiccup asked. He pushed the saddle out of the way with his prosthetic. "You don't need this anymore. C'mon, let's get going."

As Hiccup moved forward to mount the dragon, Toothless got up and walked away. Confused, Hiccup tried to get on again. "Will you quit fooling around? You have your new tail now!" But Toothless moved again, back into the same spot where he had been the first time. Hiccup looked at him suspiciously. "Toothless?"

The Night Fury lifted his tail, looking at it as he extended his real fin, causing the other one to open up as well. He looked back at his friend before pounding his tail on the ground repeatedly. Hiccup tried to stop him, but the prosthetic tail fin flew off, completely broken. Hiccup stared in amazement as Toothless pulled the saddle in between them, and nudged it toward Hiccup with his claws.

Now fully aware of what Toothless wanted, Hiccup smiled.

* * *

 _Winter in Berk lasts most of the year. It holds on with both hands, and won't let go. And the only real comforts against the cold are those you keep close to your heart._

 _Turns out, that was the best Snoggletog ever. That year, I gave my best friend a pretty great gift._

 _He gave me a better one._

* * *

 **We see how the dragons breed, and we also meet Kickin' Hawk for the first time. Looks like Snivels has just invented the mistletoe tradition.**

 **Anyone think that Verne will succeed in his quest?**

 **Review, follow, and/or favorite!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Regal

 **This is basically a sort of backstory, like Wings of Fire: Legends (Tui's making a second one called _Dragonslayer_ ). Might not work entirely into the main story, but, if it doesn't, please bear with me.**

 **Important thing to keep in mind: this side story is told from the perspective of the Pokémon, so they are all speaking in their own language rather than that of the humans.**

* * *

 _Seventeen hundred years before the first Vikings appeared..._

 _Seventeen hundred years before the war began..._

 _Two thousand years before Team Go-Getters came together for the first time..._

 _A king was born._

* * *

Walls.

That was his very first memory.

Thick, tight walls surrounding him wherever he tried to turn, even up and down. And as time passed, the walls became tighter, pressing up against him with every slight movement he made.

He heard voices on the other side of the walls. One smooth as silk, and the other more gruff and serious. He wanted to follow the voices, see where they'd lead him. But he couldn't do that with all these walls surrounding him. So, he pressed himself against the walls as hard as he could.

*CRACK!*

The voices stopped for a moment before the silky one (Mother, he knew without knowing) cried out, "He's hatching!"

The loud noises signaling his success, he pressed harder. Thin lines of light that kept getting bigger were beckoning him to come out and see what was beyond the walls. He try to cry out, but no sound came out of his mouth. Whatever he was, he couldn't talk just yet.

Bits and pieces of the walls fell away, the light pouring into his eyes. He had to blink a few times before he resumed his quest for freedom, longing to see who and what was waiting for him on the other side.

Finally, the walls disappeared, and he was out at last.

"Oh!"

A Snivy sat in the half-broken green and yellow eggshell, blinking in the bright sunlight. When his eyes adjusted, the first thing he saw was a tall and slender Pokémon that resembled a vine snake looking down at him with kind and loving eyes. He knew instinctively, this was Mother.

The Serperior curled her tail around her newly-hatched son. "Regal," she crooned in that silky voice, "Hello, darling."

"Regal?" repeated the more gruff Serperior who had a permanent glare set on his face. Father, the Snivy realized. "That's not one of the names we agreed on, Nasuta."

Nasuta glared right back at her mate. "That's because all of your names are dreadful. Your family is all about long and complicated names, the kind that make you sound like someone who is big and important. The world doesn't need any more creatures who are big and important, Servantis. It needs more creatures who are smart, kind and compassionate, those who put the needs of others before their own. So, like it or not, he is my son, and his name is Regal."

The Snivy, Regal, did not understand, nor did he hear, a word of his parents' argument. Not while there were so many wonderful smells calling for attention from his long, pointed snout.

"Why is he sniveling?" snapped Servantis when he noticed his son was sniffing excessively. "Don't tell me my offspring is a coward."

"He is not sniveling!" Nasuta protested. "He has a gift. My great-grandfather had an enhanced sense of smell, and my son has inherited it. And he's not a coward, either, he's going to do great things one day, I just know it."

Servantis just grunted.

"Besides," Nasuta continued, "Sniveling doesn't always attribute to tears. It can also mean breathing heavily through the nose, just as he does whenever he tries to find where a scent is coming from."

Servantis responded this time. "By your definition, then, he _is_ sniveling." His glare softened a little when he looked at his mate, the only Pokémon that could actually succeed in making him smile. "If you picked his first name, then I'll pick the one in the middle. It's Snivels. Regal Snivels Snaketail, my son."

"Our son," Nasuta reminded him. She had never taken her eyes off of their son as they were talking.

He was perfect in every way. His intelligent red eyes, the healthy green color, the leaf on his tail was the most perfect leaf Nasuta had ever seen.

Regal took turns looking at his mother and his father.

These were his parents. This was his family.

This was his world.

* * *

"Regal!"

The Snivy jumped awake at his father's shout.

"Get up," Servantis snapped, "You start lessons today."

It was a good few months after Regal's hatching, and he had reached the appropriate age for schooling. Specifically, being taught by an expert in survival and recognizing friend and foe in various circumstances, aside from the usual literature, science, and math.

Pokémon were rather intelligent and enhanced beings, after all.

Regal groaned as the light struck his still-sensitive eyes. "Can't I sleep a little more? It's too early."

"It's never too early to start learning," said his father. "Now get up!"

The Snivy reluctantly did as he was told. As soon as he was finished with his morning preening, he trudged out of the nest and out into the world.

"Be careful, Regal," he heard his mother call. He called back, "I will," before walking on.

His first encounter was a rather interesting one. While Regal was trying hard to keep his tired eyes open, he ended up bumping into a Snivy that was bigger and older than him. Eyes flashing in annoyance, the larger Snivy shouted, "What's the big idea?!"

"S-sorry," Regal stammered. "I didn't mean to interrupt...whatever you were doing. I'm just trying to get to my lessons."

The larger Snivy let out a mix of a scoff and a laugh. "Well, you were heading the right way before you slammed right into me!"

A third Snivy, this one slightly smaller than Regal, dashed into the space between the two. "Leave him alone, Acanthus! He said he was sorry!"

Acanthus let out a snarl before turning right around and stomping away.

"That's my older brother," said the smaller Snivy. "He's not really very nice to anyone besides me. I'm Sunbeam. You know, like a sunbeam snake? What's your name?"

Amazed at how much her kindness contrasted Acanthus's bitterness, Regal barely managed to stammer out his own name.

"Sounds fancy," Sunbeam said with a giggle. "At least now I know my brother isn't the only one of our kind who has a name that doesn't start with an S."

Without thinking, Regal blurted out, "My mother's name is Nasuta."

Sunbeam's eyes went wide. " _The_ Nasuta? The one that's married to Servantis?"

"Yeah," Regal said slowly, "How do you know her?"

"She's all my parents have been talking about," Sunbeam nearly shouted. "It's always, 'Nasuta said this,' or 'Nasuta did that,' or 'I can't believe Nasuta really fell in love with someone as stuck-up as Servantis.' It's exhausting, really."

Regal laughed at Sunbeam's attempt to mimic her parents' speech. Then he remembered what he'd been doing before he bumped into Acanthus. "Do you know where lessons are being held? Acanthus said I was heading in the right direction before...you know."

"Well, believe it or not, he's right," said Sunbeam, smiling. "We can walk there together, if you want to. I don't mind. You seem like a really nice Snivy."

The moment Regal said "yes," was probably when his life truly began...

* * *

...Because he and Sunbeam quickly became best friends.

The were always sitting next to each other during classes, and every day before dinner they'd go out and play games in the flower fields. Regal's personal favorite game was Name That Smell. Sunbeam would go around and gather several items with different stenches, and he'd have to try and guess what he was smelling.

Sunbeam surprised him one day when she sat in front of him with nothing in her leafy hands at all.

His eyes were blindfolded with a large leaf, and he'd already gone through all the flowers, mushrooms, rotting pieces of wood, and insects Sunbeam could find that day. He wanted to play one last round, so, mostly as part of a joke, Sunbeam secretly offered herself. She watched Regal's nostrils flare as his nose worked its magic.

"I smell..." he trailed off now and again to sniff some more. "Something really, really sweet. Like...a rose opening its petals in the sunlight...or...fresh pine off the trees...maybe a combination of the two? Whatever it is...I love it." He reached up to try and peel the leaf off of his eyes. "What is it?"

Sunbeam, who had started giggling when he said the word "sweet," answered joyfully, "It's me! You're smelling me!"

Regal ripped the blindfold off to see his best friend sitting there in front of him, holding nothing. She'd been telling him the truth. "How did I not notice before that you smell so nice?"

"Probably because I've never sat this close to you before," said Sunbeam, mostly to herself.

It was true, she'd never been that close to him, not even during lessons. Not while she had her older brother keeping one eye on her at all times. There was also the countless other males that all attended lessons with them. It wasn't hard to tell that Sunbeam was considered the most desirable female of their age. None of the other girls, not even the wishful and hard-working Snivy named Suri, could attract the boys' attention.

Regal was one of the many males who had a crush on Sunbeam. But whenever he saw Acanthus giving him the evil eye, he'd say to himself, "She's only a friend."

"Regal? You okay?"

The male Snivy snapped out of his reverie when he realized that he had been silent for quite a while. "Y-yeah, I'm...I'm fine. Just...thinking." He looked all around, avoiding his friend's eyes. "We...we should probably head back. Our parents will be wondering where we've gone off to."

Sunbeam couldn't think of what else they could do, so she went with it.

* * *

The two became much more adventurous after they both evolved into Servine.

Regal was leading Sunbeam into the forest, the sunset turning the sky into a canvas painted with orange and pink. It had been her idea to go exploring, and this was the first time they'd ever ventured farther than their favorite flower field.

Regal kept his red eyes on the skies above them. "Do you think we'll find any Dusk Fliers?" he asked.

"Dusk Fliers?" Sunbeam repeated in confusion.

Regal looked at her over his shoulder and smiled. "The descendants of shadows and speed itself." They'd just begun their lessons about the different species of dragons, and Dusk Fliers were Regal's personal favorite. "They're supposed to be among the fastest fliers of all time." His smile suddenly faded. "But they're also rare and hard to find, because they only fly around at night. Maybe we'll find something more common, like a Poisonous Spinetail, or a Bumbler, or a few of those cute little Eyelickers."

Suddenly nervous, Sunbeam picked up the pace of her walking so she was right behind her friend. "Or maybe we should head home before we run into something more dangerous," she said, her voice shaking a little. "Like a Double Detonator, or an Enraging Firescales."

"It was your idea to come out here," Regal said calmly. Internally, he was doing backflips and crying out in joy over how close Sunbeam was to him.

"You know how ambitious I can get," Sunbeam replied, her eyes darting every which way in case a dragon were to suddenly jump out at them.

And it came pretty close.

An enourmous, dark creature sprang out of the bushes in front of them, stopping just short of the pair of Servine. Sunbeam shrieked and ducked behind Regal, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

Regal, however, wasn't all that scared. He gazed upon the sleek black scales and the bright green eyes of the dragons before him. "I was right," he whispered, "We've found a Dusk Flier."

The Dusk Flier circled them slowly, keeping about ten feet of distance in case the Servine posed any threat. If Regal had to guess, the dragon had probably been passing through and had stopped to get a drink, or something, when it heard him and Sunbeam talking and decided to investigate. The dragon's bright green eyes stood out from all the rest of its features, like those of a cat. Much of its physical appearance resembled a cat, Regal realized.

"Hello," the male Servine said softly. "We didn't mean to intrude, we were just exploring."

The dragon's ears perked up when it heard Regal speaking to it.

"We don't want to hurt you," Regal continued, "We'll just head home now and you can get back to doing whatever it was you were doing."

The Dusk Flier cocked its head a little, its pupils dilating and giving it a more friendly appearance. Could the dragon understand him?

"Can you understand me?" Regal asked aloud.

The dragon nodded its head up and down.

"My name is Regal," said the Servine conversationally. "And this is Sunbeam." He gestured to his friend, who was now confident enough to stand in full view of the Dusk Flier. "Can you tell us your name?"

Could a Dusk Flier even have a name?

Apparently so, because the dragon sat down and held his claws up for the two Servine to see, gesturing to them with his snout. Regal immediately started throwing out guesses. "Nightpaw? Shadowtalon? Blackscales? Darkclaws?"

The Dusk Flier nodded quickly at the last one.

"What are you doing out here, Darkclaws?" Regal asked.

The dragon shifted his gaze to what Regal thought was a mountain. But he quickly realized what it was when he saw the small stream of smoke that was seeping out of the top.

Sunbeam went right back to hiding behind her friend. "I didn't know there was a volcano on this island," she said fearfully.

"Neither did I," Regal admitted. He looked back at Darkclaws. "You don't live there, do you?"

Darkclaws shook his head.

Sunbeam asked the next question. "Are there any dragons that do?"

Darkclaws thought for a moment before nodding.

"Like what?" asked an intrigued Regal. When Darkclaws didn't give any form of answer, the Servine asked, "Do you speak our language?" He ended up answering his own question. "No, of course you don't. Dragons mouths don't work the same as those of any kind of Pokémon."

"What about our language classes?" Sunbeam asked suddenly. "I think one of the sessions they offer is the language of the dragons."

Regal's eyes instantly lit up. "Right, Dragonese. That would be very helpful." He then gazed up at the sky. "It's getting kinda late. We should head home."

They both turned to leave, Regal looked over his shoulder at Darkclaws. "We'll be back," he promised.

The Dusk Flier watched them disappear through the forest before spreading his wings and taking to the air.

* * *

"And where have you been?!"

Regal sighed. He should have expected his father to be mad about his son being out late. "We were just out exploring. We kinda lost track of time."

Servantis glowered at the two Servine that had just come out of the woods. "You were supposed to come straight home after lessons!" he shouted.

"It's not his fault," Sunbeam spoke up. "It was my idea to go exploring, honest."

The Serperior lowered his head to get a better look at Sunbeam. "What exactly have you been doing with my son?"

"Nothing," Sunbeam answered automatically. "We're just friends, really."

Regal felt like his heart had shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. No matter how much he tried to deny it, he had a crush on his best friend. He thought she'd felt the same, but did she really only see him as a friend? Was that all they were ever going to be? Just friends?

The rest of the night was all a blur to Regal. He didn't hear a word his father said to him (but everyone else did, because he was yelling really loudly), and he didn't even acknowledge his mother tucking him into bed when he would normally say that he was getting too old for that.

All he could think about was Sunbeam. Her kind, sweet voice, the way her eyes glowed like precious jewels whenever the sun hit them just right, her usual optimism, her love for adventure, how she liked spending time with him even when her older brother was giving them a look that could make Regal drop dead.

 _I love you,_ he would never say. _I don't care what Acanthus thinks of me, I know we're destined to be together. Don't think we can't be more than friends because of what your brother says, I know we can make it work somehow._

It wasn't until he was almost asleep that he realized he'd forgotten to tell his parents about the volcano.

* * *

They say that time changes everything, but for Regal, it hadn't changed at all.

He and Sunbeam and Acanthus were all Serperior now, but there were times where he still felt like a Servine, or even a Snivy. With both his father and his crush's older brother yelling at him, he was hardly able to get a word out to anyone.

At least his best friend, Backfire the Blaziken, still listened to him. They'd met when Backfire's parents transferred their son into Regal's classes to better his education. Regal and Sunbeam were the only ones who didn't laugh at him when he tripped over his own taloned feet and exposed the little black speck he had on his rear end. The two had been trying to figure out why male Torchic had that, but now they were Level 40 and they were still just as dumbfounded as ever.

Besides, there were more important things to discuss now that they were older. Like how Backfire was now crushing on a female Blaziken named Phoenix. Regal had promised to help his friend win her over in exchange for Backfire keeping quiet about Regal being head-over-coils in love with Sunbeam.

"You're gonna have to tell her eventually," the Blaziken had said. "Or else she'll end up with another suitor who might not even love her at all."

"I will," Regal had promised. "I just need to find the right time, that's all."

The Serperior had completely forgotten about Darkclaws and the volcano.

Until the day the island started shaking.

* * *

 **Relevant? I certainly hope so.**

 **I figured the dragons would have gone by different names before the Vikings arrived, especially seventeen hundred years before those guys sailed into the** **archipelago** **. (Hiccup basically said in the first movie that the war had been going on for at least three hundred years, I would assume that was when they first arrived in the archipelago, give or take a month or two.) Names are listed below for those who have difficulty figuring out who's who back in Regal's time, though that's probably little to none now that I think about it.**

 **Dusk Flier - Night Fury  
Poisonous Spinetail - Deadly Nadder  
Bumbler - Gronckle  
Eyelicker - Terrible Terror  
Double Detonator - Hideous Zippleback  
Enraging Firescales - Monstrous Nightmare  
**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: King of Pokémon

 **Now it gets more relevant.**

* * *

When Regal woke up one morning, he thought it was still nighttime. The skies were dark enough to be night, but there was something off about it. The clouds were a lot thicker than usual, and something in the air made him cough violently.

A sudden tremor made him lose his balance, and he fell into the grass. A set of black claws lay before him, and he looked up to see Darkclaws sitting a few feet away. The Serperior pulled himself up. "What's going on?"

The Dusk Flier turned his head toward the volcano, as did Regal.

Thick, black smoke was billowing out of the fiery mountain, darkening the skies and blocking out the sun. The ground quaked with tremors as the volcano drew closer and closer to the point of eruption.

Dragons of all kinds took to the air and started flying out to sea, away from the raging mountain. Even their fireproof scales weren't enough to provide protection against the bubbling lava.

Regal backed away a little. "We need to get out of here."

Darkclaws crooned. Regal didn't need to understand what Darkclaws was saying to know that the Dusk Flier agreed with him.

When all the other Pokémon on the island realized what was going on, they went and started fleeing every which way. Servantis started yelling as loud as he possibly could, but no one would stop to listen.

Thinking quickly, Regal let out a loud, shrill whistle that made all the Pokémon freeze. When he was sure everyone was paying attention to him, he shouted, "Everyone get to the beaches! It'll be safest there for a short time while we figure out how to stop this!"

"Why should we take orders from you?" asked a skeptical Pokémon from somewhere in the back.

"We need a leader," Regal said clearly, "And if no one else is going to take that role, then I will." He found Backfire in the crowd and pointed at him. "Escort everyone to the beaches, and quickly!"

Following his suggestion, every living creature, big and small, fled to the beaches. While it was true they were the safest places, they would only be for the time being. The lava that flowed from the volcano wouldn't stop until it got to the edge of the island and poured into the ocean. And that usually meant burning all the living things that got in its way.

Regal found his mother and father among the gathered Pokémon and went to them. "What do we do? There has to be a way to stop this!"

"There isn't," Nasuta replied, fearfully. "All of the Pokémon on this island started settling here after the last eruption. We didn't think the next would happen so soon. There's nothing we can do other than get off this island!"

Servantis, however, surprised everyone by providing a different answer. "There is another way."

"What way?" Regal asked desperately.

"There's a legend," Servantis replied, "Of a dragon that eats lava. It's said to have saved countless lives from the deadliest volcano in existence by swallowing it all in one gulp. Personally, I never believed it, I mean, really, what sort of dragon would be able to actually eat lava?"

Sure, the legend sounded absurd, but Regal knew it was the only chance they had. He had to find this dragon that could eat lava, to stop the eruption, or at least delay it until everyone could get off the island safely. He let out a draconic roar, and Darkclaws quickly swooped down next to him. "Do you know a dragon that eats lava?"

The Dusk Flier nodded.

"Please take me to them," Regal practically begged. "I need them to save everyone."

Darkclaws lowered his wings and gestured for the Serperior to get on his back. Regal was about to comply when he stopped and scanned the crowd behind him. He found Sunbeam, and slithered over to her. "Listen," he pleaded gently, "In case everything goes horribly wrong, there's something that I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Sunbeam asked, tilting her head a little.

Regal caught Acanthus glaring at him. And for once in his life, he ignored it. He twined his tail with Sunbeam's.

"I love you."

Sunbeam looked stunned, but she shook it off. "I...I love you, too..."

Regal shook his head. "No, I mean...you're the first thing I think about when I wake up, you're the last thing I think about before I fall asleep, and I didn't say anything before because I was afraid of your brother and what he was going to say and do if I ever told you how I felt. But I have to tell you now, because I might never get the chance to later..."

"Oh, my gosh," Sunbeam sighed. "Regal, stop. Don't say stuff like that, we're gonna get through this."

"What if we don't?" he asked, "What if this is the last day we'll ever have? I don't want it to go to waste. I'll spend every last moment I have with you, if I can."

He hadn't really planned to pour out his heart to her. He only wanted to say "I love you," and nothing else. But he was right, this could be the only moment he'd ever have with Sunbeam, and he didn't want to miss it. Not for the world.

Sunbeam gave him a warm smile. "Save it for when you come back," she said.

Regal smiled back at her nervously before leaning forward and kissing her cheek. He didn't stay long enough to see her reaction, as he immediately turned around and mounted Darkclaws as best he could without any legs.

Acanthus was suddenly there next to the Dusk Flier. Regal couldn't tell if the look on his face was determination or anger, and he didn't want to stay long enough to find out if it was the latter. He very nearly had a heart attack when he heard what the older brother of his crush had just said.

"I'm going with you."

 _Oh, no. I'm so dead now._

* * *

Regal did his best to stare ahead instead of at the taller Serperior behind him on Darkclaws's back. Ever since day one, Acanthus had been giving him looks like he was out to get him.

"I'm sorry," Regal said, too afraid to look over his own shoulder. "Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. I just...I really couldn't help but fall for your sister. I know you hate me, and I promise I've been trying really hard to respect both you and Sunbeam."

Acanthus sighed. "I don't hate you, Regal. I never did, I was just...trying to protect my sister."

Now Regal did look back at him, his eyes wide.

"Our mother, Serenity, was in love with someone," Acanthus explained. "They were both young, and she really loved him, like, a lot. But then he started seeing someone else behind her back, and he ended up breaking her heart. She didn't think she'd ever love again, until she met Silas, our father. They told us the whole story before we went to our lessons, Mother said she was counting on me to protect Sunbeam from anyone who wanted to hurt her. I thought you'd be like all the rest, the kind of guy who'd leave her hanging out to dry and go for someone else. And let me tell you, right now could be the chance you need to prove me wrong."

Stunned, Regal said with genuine gratitude and understanding, "Thank you for sharing that with me, Acanthus. When Sunbeam hears about - "

"It never happened," Acanthus insisted with a glare.

Darkclaws broke up the conversation, before it could get too ugly, with a warble. They still had a lava-eating dragon to find.

And they were on the right track. There was an island appearing over the horizon. It had a volcano, like their home island did, but this one was nowhere near as active as theirs. A good sign that the dragon they were looking for was nearby.

Or it had finished its last eruption, and the dragon they needed wasn't around for miles.

 _Let's hope it's the former,_ Regal thought to himself as the Dusk Flier folded his wings and started to dive down to land on the small patch of rock and forest. There were no signs of any recent eruption, not even any hardened lava streams.

The two Serperior slid off of Darkclaws's back, their eyes and noses turned up at the volcano. "Do you think we'll find the dragon in there?" Regal asked.

"If we don't, we'll have more than my sister to worry about," was Acanthus's answer.

Darkclaws, however, nodded. He'd been here before, when he had migrated during the mating season, so he already knew what dragons lived there. He started trotting towards the volcano, ignorant of the concerned expressions the two Serperior were giving him. After about a hundred or so feet, the Dusk Flier turned back to look at the two and warbled urgently.

"I think he wants us to follow him," Regal realized.

Darkclaws bounced on his paws a little and continued on his way towards the volcano. The two Serperior started after him. "If we die," said Acanthus, "I'm going to kill you."

Regal wasn't as intimidated as he thought he would be. "Honestly, I wouldn't expect anything else."

They reached the peak of the inactive volcano faster than they thought they would. And what they found resting in the middle of the large crater was beyond anything they could ever imagine.

The dragon turned out to be a lot smaller than they imagined, but it was rather bulky, like a rock. Its wings were quite large and its head was as big as its body. The front legs were very small compared to the hind legs and there were several big, spiky lobes along its back and tail. Its body was covered with thick spineless, volcanic rock armor made of cooled lava.

"I think we just found our Lava-Eater," Regal said, mostly to himself.

Acanthus wasn't as impressed. "Somehow, I pictured it...bigger. Much bigger."

Darkclaws flew down into the crater and greeted the Lava-Eater with a warble. The Lava-Eater lifted its head and growled back. Or was that its stomach?

Apparently the latter, because the dragon took one good look around the empty volcano before flapping its wings and flying out. It landed on the edge of the volcano's peak, in front of the two Serperior.

"We need you to come with us," Regal said, slowly. He needed to be sure that the Lava-Eater could understand him. "Our home is going to be destroyed by a volcano, and you're the only one who can stop the eruption. Eat all the lava you want and you can come back here afterward, if you wish."

The dragon responded by spreading her wings and taking off straight off the ground. Her eyes scanned the horizon, hoping to find a clue as to where this lava-filled volcano was.

Acanthus stared at the Lava-Eater for a good long while before shifting his attention back to Regal. "So, what's the plan, now?"

"We lead it home," Regal said, matter-of-factly. "And we need to hurry, before the entire island is consumed by lava."

* * *

The entire island being consumed by lava was not very far from happening by the time they got back. Regal immediately steered Darkclaws down to the beach where his parents and Sunbeam were waiting.

"We found the Lava-Eater," said the Serperior as he slithered off of the Dusk Flier's back. "Has anyone gotten hurt?"

Nasuta shook her head. "Everyone's fine, son."

Regal locked eyes with Servantis. The older Serperior said nothing, which wasn't a surprise. Hardly anything Regal did was enough for his father. He didn't know why, it was just something he'd gotten used to throughout his life.

In that moment, something inside Regal snapped. "We found the Lava-Eater," he said again. "I've practically found the key to saving not only everyone I know, but also our home. Is nothing I do ever good enough for you, Father? Do you despise me so much that you'd rather die than call me your son?"

Nasuta gasped, "Regal!"

"No, he's right," Servantis said with a sigh. "I haven't been acting like a father to him, and there's no viable excuse I can give. I was raised by noble parents who taught me to distance myself from those they deemed inferior. I knew I'd never be fit to be a father to my own offspring, and I was going to tell you, but then he came along and things just kept getting more complicated. No amount of apologies can make up for my behavior, but all I can really do is ask for your forgiveness."

The older Serperior averted his eyes from those of his wife and son, guilt evident in his expression. Nasuta slithered forward and shamelessly twined her tail with his. "I've always admired your honesty, Servantis," she said, "And I see it in our son. You've nothing to be ashamed of."

A plume of lava burst out of the volcano before Servantis could say anything. The Lava-Eater wasn't going to reach the smoking mountain in time to fully stop the eruption.

"We need to get everyone off the island!" Regal shouted over the explosion of lava. He turned to Darkclaws. "Gather all the dragons you can, and fast!"

A flurry of sand nearly blinded the Serperior as the Dusk Flier sprung into the air. When he looked up, the dragon had disappeared into the thick smoke. Only the sound of Darkclaws's wingbeats assured Regal that he was still there.

The loud howling cry of a Dusk Flier's request for help was nearly drowned out by the roar of the volcano. The Lava-Eater was guzzling down the lava as fast as her throat and stomach could tolerate, but it wasn't nearly enough.

The volcano exploded.

It was nothing like Regal had ever seen, or even imagined, before. It was like the whole island was turning inside out, collapsing the top of the mountain and shooting a vast, billowing cloud of flaming smoke into the air, which rose the height of five Bewilderbeasts and then fell, sending all that fire and rock and ash charging down the slope and through the trees toward them faster than a Speed Forme Deoxys.

"RUN!" bellowed a voice Regal recognized as Backfire. The Blaziken tore out of the forest with Phoenix and a whole swarm of other Pokémon running and flying and scurrying and digging and whatnot as fast as they could possibly go.

Then, one by one, they were suddenly plucked off the ground and carried away into the air. Poisonous Spinetails, Bumblers, Double Detonators, Enraging Firescales and even Dusk Fliers galore swooped down out of the sky, grabbing one or two Pokémon in their talons and lifting them up and away from the danger.

A female Dusk Flier grabbed Sunbeam at the same time as Darkclaws grabbed Regal. The male Serperior glanced down to find his parents wrapping their coils around the legs of an Enraging Firescales.

But Acanthus was nowhere to be seen.

Then Regal remembered that he had ridden home on the Lava-Eater. Which meant that he was up at the summit of the volcano with the dragon. Twisting in the talons that gave Darkclaws his name, Regal pulled himself up onto the Dusk Flier's back. "We need to find Acanthus!"

He ignored the shouts of protest from Sunbeam and Nasuta (and...Servantis?) as he steered Darkclaws towards the exploding mountain. He could see the Lava-Eater, she was still eating merrily despite the chaos that was happening around her. Beneath her body, sheltering himself from the fire and lava, was Acanthus. The older Serperior looked and seemed perfectly fine to Regal until he shifted his body to reveal a large, possibly third-degree, burn covering about half of the left side of his body.

"Grab him!" Regal shouted over the explosion. Darkclaws dove down and snatched Acanthus's tail, the only part of him that was hanging out in the open from underneath the Lava-Eater. The burned Serperior howled in pain as he was whisked up into the air. Regal reached out with his tail, grasping Acanthus's through Darkclaws's talons to assure the both of them that everything would be alright.

The next moment was all a blur to Regal, but he soon found himself on a large sea stack not too far from their island home. The structure was sturdy, but was likely to erode away into a stump of a rock sometime in the next decade or two.

Regal rushed to Acanthus's side and found Sunbeam opposite him, twining her tail around her brother's. Her face was horrified.

"Help him!" Regal yelled, scanning the crowd of Pokémon. "We need a doctor! Is anyone here a doctor?!"

Backfire hesitated, then started forward. "I've been studying medicine," he said, "It's only first aid, so I'm really not much of a doctor - "

"Spare us the details," Regal said, cutting him off. "Can you help Acanthus?"

"Well..." the Blaziken hesitated nervously, his eyes surveying the intensity of the Serperior's burns. After giving it some thought, he nodded firmly. "I can try." He reached his patient in less than five strong strides and knelt beside the wounded Serperior. "We're gonna need water, and lots of it. Pour it over his burns while I go find some herbs to help numb the pain." He stood up and sprinted away, to where Regal never saw as his eyes were locked on Acanthus.

The water they needed ended up coming from the island's native Water-types, each donating a supply from their water-based attacks to soothe their fallen comrade. Regal thought he could see steam rising from where the water made contact with Acanthus's burns, but he pushed that thought aside as he listened to the wounded Serperior's quiet sighs of relief as the water cooled his blistering skin.

Backfire returned several moments later, upon the back of a friendly and helpful Poisonous Spinetail, his arms full of different varieties of herbal leaves and flowers. Working quickly, he mashed it all up into a greenish paste, which he then proceeded to spread all over Acanthus's burns.

Acanthus let out a sharp scream at the contact, but then let out a long sigh of relief as the medicine worked its magic. All of the heat and pain faded away, and he opened his eyes to find the worried gaze of his sister.

Backfire sat back and allowed himself to admire his work. "It'll take a lot of rest and medicine, but he's going to be okay."

Regal nearly collapsed in relief. But Sunbeam did. She practically threw herself over her brother, being careful to avoid the burns. "You're all right," she whispered happily, "You're going to be all right."

Also, Servantis was staring at his son as if Eyelickers were parading out of his ears.

"I couldn't leave him there," Regal said. "If it was me in that raging cloud of fire, I would have wanted someone to come and save me. Even if they couldn't save me, I'd rather die knowing someone came for me than being alone and unwanted."

"I know," Servantis said in a tone Regal had never heard before. "Because it's exactly the reason why I fell in love with your mother."

Regal blinked at him. "I didn't think you loved her for anything other than her beauty."

"I don't blame you for that," Servantis sighed, "I haven't been acting like a Pokémon who loves his family, but I can assure you that if it was you in that fire, you mother and I would have done everything in our power to save you. It's something a true leader would do, turning around and and going back to help those who can't keep up with the group, even if it means putting their own life on the line. It was my dream to lead the island's population, but I sort of knew all along that I never had any of the qualities they'd respect in a leader. Your mother might have been great if she ever tried to lead, but the truth is, I've never met a Pokemon who both _wanted_ to be a leader and _deserved_ to be. Until now."

He lifted his head and faced the large crowd of gathered Pokémon. "It may take a while before it's safe for all of us to go home again," he said, "But I do know that we'll all be in good hands until then, and forever more." He turned to his son with a sweeping gesture. "Behold! Our new leader! King Regal Snivels Snaketail!"

And they _cheered_.

Regal lurched back, amazed, as what looked like the entire world jumped up and started singing joyfully. _I'm a king,_ he thought to himself proudly. _King Regal Snivels Snaketail. That'll be my name in the history books - not Regal the mistake, or Regal the coward, or Regal who was never good enough to impress his own father. I'm responsible for all of these Pokémon now, maybe even all of the Pokémon in the world. I'll protect them. I'll lead them. I'll make us all creatures we can be proud of._

 _And I won't have to do it alone._

Regal turned to Sunbeam with a smile. "You were right," he said. "That wasn't our last moment together. We can spend the rest of our lives together, if we want to."

"Of course I want to," Sunbeam said, her voice wavering with a whole flurry of emotions. Regal recognized happiness, nervousness and anticipation.

"Then, will you be my queen?" he asked. Then he quickly added, "If it's okay with Acanthus."

Said Serperior forced his eyes open and gave Regal as best a smile as he could manage through all of the exhaustion and aching pain. "You'll take care of her better than I did," he rasped.

"I will," Regal said firmly, twining his tail with Sunbeam's as he leaned in to kiss her. "That's a promise."

* * *

Regal stared down happily at the three bold green eggs decorated with fanciful yellow swirls that were sitting ever so peacefully in his and Sunbeam's nest. It had been nearly a year since the near-disaster with the volcano, and things on their island home had all changed for the better.

The eruption had eventually subdued at the hands - er, claws - of the Lava-Eater, who had flown right back to her island home the minute the job was done. With any luck, she'd give birth to another Lava-Eater who could take post at their volcano in case of any future eruptions.

As Backfire predicted, Acanthus had recovered from his burns miraculously well. There were still a few scars, and his voice was more raspy than it used to be thanks to the smoke, but he was alive and that was all that mattered. He also found love in Suri, now a fully-evolved Serperior, and no other female was going to sway him away from her. And the best part? He finally approved of his sister's relationship with Regal.

Servantis had made a new resolve to be more open and kind, especially to his family, and Nasuta was more than happy to help him with that. Regal and his father were now on much better terms than ever.

As for the lovebirds - more accurately, the love-fire-birds - Backfire and Phoenix were expecting an egg of their own. The two Blaziken were assigned the position of the king's guards as a reward for their help during the eruption, with Backfire later being promoted to the captain of the guards.

Regal and Sunbeam turned out to be natural leaders, making all of the best decisions together and ensuring that everyone on the island would benefit from their ideas. And the King of Pokémon was delighted to learn that he was soon to be a father as well. That's why he was watching over this nest, at the perfect little eggs that contained his and Sunbeam's offspring.

He was still there, curled around the nest and cuddling the eggs with his tail, when Queen Sunbeam returned from her early morning stroll. "You don't have to stay there," she said, "It's not like our eggs are gonna disappear the moment you take your eyes off them."

"They're due to hatch soon," was the king's reply. "And I want to be here when it happens."

Smiling, Sunbeam went to join him, slithering to the other side of the nest so she was facing him and twining her tail with his. "What are you hoping for?" she asked. "Sons? Daughters? Bit of both?"

"I just want healthy children," Regal said truthfully. "But if I had to choose...just one son would be enough for me. And if he turns out to be as brave and smart as I am, so long as he puts other's needs before his own, that would be more than enough. We'll love our daughters as much as we love him, don't worry."

"We both like Sarai and Sage," said a thoughtful Sunbeam. "What would we call their brother?"

"If we do have a son," said Regal with a smile, "We'll name him Siebold."

* * *

A Shiny Serperior stood before a stone with lettering carved on it. Every time he read through what was written, his eyes would glisten with tears that threatened to shed. Sometimes they would dry before they got the chance, other times they didn't.

About half a dozen Snivy stood beside the Serperior. The oldest looked up at him and asked, "Grandpa Siebold, are you alright?"

Siebold forced a smile. "Go on home, kids," he said, "I'll be right with you, I promise."

One by one, the Snivy left their grandfather and headed home to where their parents, Siebold's son and daughter-in-law, were waiting. Before the Shiny Serperior left, he took one last look at the memorial.

 _In honor of King Regal  
_ _A true leader_

The rock itself was made of the sturdiest element in the world. No form of weather or natural disasters would ever make it crumble, or make the carved words fade. They would remain for an eternity and a day, sitting ever so peacefully on the cliff overlooking the sea, at the edge of the flower field where Regal and Sunbeam had played together in their youth.

* * *

 ** _Several Generations Later_**

The first thing he felt was darkness.

It was all he could see, if his eyes were even open at all.

He could hear, that was absolutely certain. There were voices coming from the other side of whatever was surrounding him.

"Shouldn't it have hatched by now?"

"Relax, Solidago. I was over a week late, and I've turned out just fine. Five days won't make too much of a difference."

"This egg is the only one in our clutch that hasn't hatched on its due date. Do I not have a right to be concerned, Salvia?"

"Perhaps you do, but if you keep slithering back and forth like that, you'll wear out a trench in the dirt."

He couldn't understand the words yet, but somehow they held meaning to him. Like whoever and whatever was speaking would be very important. One that was soft and light, one that was deeper yet kind, and they seemed to both be calling, _Come out, come out. It's alright._

He pressed his back against one of the walls, pushing as hard as he could. A satisfying *crack* was heard, and the sensation of something beginning to give way from behind him.

"He's coming, look!"

The light wanted him out, it wanted to embrace him in its warmth and hold him, so he could be safe and happy. He wanted to feel that, forever and for eternity.

*CRACK!*

The walls fell away.

And the light poured in.

After several heartbeats of blinking his eyes to help them adjust to the light, the Snivy realized there were two slender creatures towering over him. Mother and Father, he realized. He reached up, up, up with his little leafy hands, longing for an embrace from these two creatures that already loved him so very much.

His request was answered by his mother, Salvia. She wrapped her tiny son in her tail, a gentle, loving squeeze filling him with the most wonderful kind of warmth and happiness. This was where he belonged.

The tender moment ended when the Snivy noticed that eleven other little creatures that looked exactly like him were watching him with wide, red eyes. Suddenly scared, he ducked behind his mother, somehow knowing that she was the one who always provided the answer to his problems.

"Don't be afraid," she said softly to him. "Come on out, it's alright."

He did as he was told, but remained hidden for the most part.

Salvia spoke to the rest of her children next. "Everyone, come and meet your new brother."

One by one, each of his eleven older siblings, which he was still a tiny bit afraid of, moved forward to get a closer look at him.

The little Snivy buried his head into Salvia's coils, longing to feel their warmth again. Another set of coils wrapped around him, those of his father. He looked up to find Solidago giving him the proud smile every loving father had when he laid eyes on his children.

The Snivy looked back at his mother, then at his father, and then back to his mother again. He didn't quite understand what they were smiling about, but it must have had something to do with him.

"I'm your mother, little one," Salvia said. She looked to her mate. "This is your father." Then she looked back at her son. "And you are Snivels Siebold Snaketail, descendant of King Regal and his son, King Siebold. You are going to have the happiest life any Pokémon could ever dream of, and those Vikings will never, _ever,_ have you."

She meant every word of that, he could sense it in her tone. Whatever these "Vikings" were had to be terrible, and she was planning on being right here with him, always, to make sure that they would never lay a hand on her precious son.

"You're going to be great one day," Salvia crooned lovingly, lifting her son up so she could look him straight in the eyes. "Just remember: be strong, be brave, be true. And always follow your heart, wherever it may lead you."

That was the first of the many things she and Solidago would teach him. To be strong enough to help others who didn't have enough strength to look after themselves. To be brave enough to stand up for what was right, even if he was standing alone. And to be true of heart, to follow wherever it was leading him, to be himself above all the other possibilities, and to always give love and compassion to those who deserved it.

Like a true leader, and the truest of all friends, would do.

* * *

 _...And that is when my story began._

* * *

 **How many hearts have I touched? I know I have touched my own.**

 **...Somehow that sounds wrong.**


End file.
